The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Major John P. Salmon (MCSN: 0-7770), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Commanding Officer of Company E, Second Battalion, Twenty-seventh Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 8 March 1945. Ordered to attack the last remaining ridge in his company’s zone of action, Major Salmon personally reconnoitered the position which was staunchly defended by the Japanese and had been stubbornly attacked for two days with little progress and high casualties. Coordinating the efforts of both infantry and tanks into a smashing rolling advance through three hundred yards of intricate hostile fortifications, he led men and vehicles in a shrewdly planned charge and, by his bold and skillful leadership in the face of all kinds of hostile fire, was instrumental in his company’s accomplishment of the mission. His tactical skill, cool, courage and unswerving devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.