The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Staff Sergeant William C. Waldrop (MCSN: 273537), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with the First Engineer Battalion, FIRST Marine Division during action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu, Palau Islands on 19 September 1944. When the leader of his engineer platoon became a casualty as a result of heavy fire from well-entrenched machine guns on the slopes of Hill 100, Staff Sergeant Waldrop promptly assumed command of the remainder of the platoon, skillfully coordinating the fire and movement of adjacent infantry units and leading his men forward with demolition charges against the hostile installations. Determined and aggressive in the face of continually increasing casualties, Staff Sergeant Waldrop deployed his men to bring frontal fire on an enemy automatic weapon concealed in thick underbrush and, personally rushing the emplacement in full face of its fire, hurled a heavy charge of explosive into the embrasure and demolished the bunker and the Japanese crew. By his exceptional professional skill and indomitable fighting spirit, Staff Sergeant Waldrop was directly instrumental in attaining the assigned objective, and his courageous devotion to duty under the most perilous conditions was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.