The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Private First Class Milton W. Thompson (MCSN: 931263), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Machine Gun Squad Leader, serving with Company D, Second Battalion, Twenty-eighth Marines, FIFTH Marine Division during action against enemy Japanese forces at Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands on 1 March 1945. When his platoon was pinned down by heavy surprise machine gun fire from an enemy cave against which there was no covered firing point, Private First Class Thompson brilliantly maneuvered his squad into a position directly facing the cave, set up his machine gun in a completely exposed spot, to the place of the gunner and silenced the hostile fire by engaging in a sharp duel with Japanese until mortally wounded. By his valiant initiative and utter disregard for his own personal safety in the face of almost certain death, Private First Class Thompson saved the lives of many of his comrades and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. Private First Class Milton W. Thompson gave his life in the service of his country.