The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant George L. McConnell (MCSN: 0-14724), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Executive Officer of Company B, First Battalion, Fifth Marines, FIRST Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu, Palau Islands, 27 September 1944. When three men had been wounded and the squad pinned down by hostile automatic fire from a well-fortified cave, First Lieutenant McConnell bravely rode behind the turret of a tank into pointblank range of the cave and, efficiently directing the tank’s fire, assured the safe withdrawal of the wounded men and the remainder of this squad. Returning a few minutes later, he courageously rode an amphibian tractor armed with a flame thrower to the cave mouth, thereby contributing materially to the clearance of all Japanese and to the capture of his objective. His outstanding courage, devotion to duty and grave concern for the welfare of others were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.