The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class Leonard F. Noyes (MCSN: 492597), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with Headquarters Company, Third Battalion, Sixth Marines, SECOND Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces at Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, 22 November 1943. With a platoon attached to an adjacent company attempting to land in a heavily mined sector of the beach, Private First Class Noyes fearlessly risked his life to warn the Platoon Leader of the danger. Leaving his station in the landing craft, he successively swam and waded for a distance of fifteen hundred yards to the imperiled unit under the enemy’s incessant shellfire, despite extreme exhaustion, courageously directed them to an area free of mines. By his daring initiative, dauntless perseverance and grave concern for the safety of others in the face of tremendous odds, Private First Class Noyes contributed to the probable saving of many lives and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.