The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Silver Star to Lieutenant Colonel Wendell H. Duplantis (MCSN: 0-5219), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Commanding Officer of the Third Battalion, Twenty-first Marines, THIRD Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 4 March 1945. When the Commanding Officer of the left assault company of his battalion was killed during an attack on 4 March and the entire battalion was held up, Lieutenant Colonel Duplantis immediately went to the front lines and reconnoitered the battalion front despite constant enemy mortar, automatic and small-arms fire. Advancing one hundred yards beyond the front lines on the left flank and locating a well-defended hostile gun position, he remained in this exposed observation point under enemy observation and fire to direct an artillery and mortar barrage on the enemy emplacement until it was destroyed, thereby enabling his battalion to continue the advance. By his courageous leadership and outstanding professional ability, Lieutenant Colonel Duplantis contributed materially to the success of the day’s attack, and his devotion to duty throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Lieutenant Colonel Wendell H. Duplantis (MCSN: 0-5219), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Commanding Officer of the Third Battalion, Twenty-first Marines, THIRD Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Guam, Mariana Islands, 26 July 1944. When strong enemy attacks forced his battalion to fall back, wiping out a combat outpost and taking the command post under heavy attack, Lieutenant Colonel Duplantis directed his reserve platoon in a counterattack during which heavy casualties were inflicted on the enemy before the platoon was reduced to seven men and withdrawn. With his front line companies and his command post under attack, he continued to control the defenses of his battalion sector for a period of about eight hours before the enemy was repulsed with a count of seventy-five enemy dead in the command post area and approximately two hundred in front of the battalion. His leadership and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.