Navy Federal Credit Union

Awards Received

  • Silver Star

    Service:

    United States Marine Corps

    Rank:

    Gunnery Sergeant

    Batallion:

    1st Battalion

    Regiment:

    28th Marines

    Division:

    5th Marine Division

    Action Date:

    February 23, 1945

    Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force Pacific: Serial 43156

    The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Gunnery Sergeant Harry L. Mowery (MCSN: 325824), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with Company C, First Battalion, Twenty-eighth Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, on 23 February 1945. When his company’s supply of ammunition was becoming exhausted during a large-scale assault on Japanese positions, Gunnery Sergeant Mowery organized a detail of ten men and led them through several by-passed enemy positions to replenish the company’s ammunition supply. Pinned down by intense machine-gun fire from a hostile pillbox while returning to his unit with the ammunition, he courageously attacked the emplacements single-handedly with hand grenades and annihilated the eight enemy occupants. Though wounded during this action, he refused evacuation until the ammunition had been delivered to his company. His courage and unswerving devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon Gunnery Sergeant Mowery and the United States Naval Service.