Navy Federal Credit Union

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Corporal Carroll M. Wagner (MCSN: 302527), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while a member of the First Battalion, Eleventh Marines, FIRST Marine Division during action against enemy Japanese forces on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands on October 14, 1942. When a Marine bivouac area came under intense and prolonged bombardment by a number of Japanese ships and a major caliber projectile struck on occupied dugout, Corporal Wagner, along with four other men, unhesitatingly set to work to rescue two marines who had been buried under an avalanche of debris. Under continuous shell fire and aerial attack the crew persisted for nearly an hour in digging out and removing logs until the entrapped men were unearthed. One had been killed but the other, due to the quick thinking and untiring efforts of Corporal Wagner and his comrades, was undoubtedly saved from death by suffocation.

Awards Received