The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Corporal William D. Taylor (MCSN: 516381), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with Company B, Fourth Tank Battalion, FOURTH Marine Division in action against enemy Japanese forces on Namur, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands on 1 February 1944. When his Commander was mortally wounded and both he and the gunner were injured during a savage attack by the Japanese against his isolated tank, Corporal Taylor unhesitatingly removed the injured gunner and his stricken Commander from the blazing vehicle to the safety of a shell hole where he administered first aid. When this shelter became untenable due to severe enemy action, he directed the further removal of his Commander until that officer was pronounced dead by a passing medical corpsman and then personally carried the gunner for a distance of over two hundred yards through enemy territory to friendly lines. Corporal Taylor’s courage, great personal valor and heroic spirit despite shrapnel wounds and severe burns were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.