The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Corporal Lewis H. Maurer (MCSN: 921218), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as a Squad Leader, serving with Company A, First Battalion, Twenty-eighth Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 3 March 1945. With his company halted by heavy enemy machine-gun and rifle fire, Corporal Maurer voluntarily returned to the company supply dump to obtain urgently needed ammunition. Although four men had been wounded while attempting the same mission, he crossed an open area under heavy Japanese fire, reached the supply dump and returned with the vital supplies at a critical point in the battle. Mortally wounded by hostile sniper fire during a subsequent trip over the same hazardous route to obtain another supply of ammunition, Corporal Maurer, by his courageous initiative, had aided immeasurably in gaining fire superiority for his company. His unwavering devotion to duty was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.