The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private Esiquiel M. Martinez (MCSN: 361006), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with Company C, Fourth Tank Battalion, FOURTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 24 February 1945. After his tank had been penetrated and set afire by a direct hit from a hostile antitank gun, Private Martinez re-entered the flaming tank and, despite several successive hits from the same weapon, succeeded in evacuating a seriously wounded crew member. Although the vehicle was one hundred yards ahead of friendly lines and under continuous enemy small-arms fire, he and members of his crew carried the wounded Marine back to an aid station where he received immediate treatment which saved his life. Private Martinez’s courage, initiative and unwavering devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.