The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Corporal Emmett McGlaughlin (MCSN: 500551), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as a Section Leader in a Machine Gun Platoon of Company H, Third Battalion, Twenty-eighth Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 13 March 1945. Going to the front lines on his own initiative and without orders from his Company Commander, Corporal McGlaughlin assumed command of a rifle platoon after the platoon leader and platoon sergeant had been hit by enemy fire. The casualty-depleted platoon was dangerously disorganized and in a tactically disadvantageous position, drawing devastating hostile machine-gun and rifle fire. After reorganizing the men and pulling back to form a vital consolidation of the lines which closed a gap between the companies of the Battalion, Corporal McGlaughlin took three men, moved out in front of the lines and brought three casualties to safety. His heroic actions and cool leadership were important factors in averting a dangerous disorganization within the Company, and his courageous devotion to duty was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.