The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class James J. McDevitt (MCSN: 467312), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with Company A, First Battalion, Twentieth Marines (Engineer), FOURTH Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Mariana Islands, on 5 July 1944. Ordered with his squad to wipe out a hostile machine gun which had been set up during a vicious hostile attack against our lines in the early morning and was pinning his battalion’s sector to the ground, Private First Class McDevitt, on his own initiative, immediately pressed forward with a companion against the withering barrage when the advance was cut off and a member of the squad wounded and, assuming a strategic firing position on the flank of the emplacement, succeeded in providing sufficient fire power to prevent further penetration by the Japanese. By his daring initiative, fearless determination and cool and courageous action in the face of grave peril, Private First Class McDevitt contributed materially to the success of our operations against this vital hostile stronghold and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.