The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Corporal Vernon P. Lutz (MCSN: 306044), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as a Machine Gun Squad Leader of Company L, Third Battalion, Sixth Marines, SECOND Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Mariana Islands, on 27 June 1944. Wounded by fire from a well camouflaged enemy machine gun when his assault rifle platoon was pinned down by the hostile fire, Corporal Lutz exposed himself continuously to reconnoiter a position from which his machine gun could bring fire on the Japanese. Selecting commanding ground, he skillfully maneuvered his squad from under the enemy fire and up a defiladed route of approach, silenced the hostile weapon, and enabled the riflemen to reorganize and continue the attack before he submitted to treatment for his wounds. His courage, initiative and devotion to duty throughout were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.