The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Wilford “J” Cullen (NSN: 3767776), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa while serving as a Medical Corpsman with a Rifle Platoon of the First Battalion, Fifth Marines, FIRST Marine Division, on 18 May 1945. Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Cullen, observing that one of the assault platoons was pinned down by accurate and heavy enemy machine gun and sniper fire, and had several casualties, left his position of comparative safety and advanced across two hundred yards of open, fire-swept terrain to administer first aid to the wounded men. As the enemy fire was of such intensity as to make normal evacuation impossible, Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Cullen crawled to a position from which he could spot the enemy positions and directed the fire of near-by tanks to neutralize the enemy strong points, making it possible for stretcher bearers to reach the wounded. To further aid in the evacuation of the seriously wounded men, he threw smoke grenades, providing a smoke screen through which the men could be carried. Later, a man in the adjacent platoon was seriously hit while in front of his platoon’s lines. Without regard for his own personal safety, Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Cullen went out to administer first aid although the area where the man lay was covered by a heavy enemy cross fire. After aiding the wounded man, he supervised his evacuation until seriously wounded by an enemy machine gun burst. Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Cullen’s valiant devotion to duty and superb personal courage were inspirational and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.