The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Private First Class Harold P. Forsythe (MCSN: 540244), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism as a member of an Artillery Forward Observer Party serving with the Second Battalion, Fourteenth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Mariana Islands, 15 June 1944. Fighting boldly and aggressively during a sudden bitter attack by a group of Japanese, Private First Class Forsythe fearlessly assumed an exposed position so that a wounded companion could be evacuated to the rear and, holding his ground with fierce determination, single-handedly repelled the savage assault. Relentlessly waging a lone battle against the hostile assailants, he succeeded in annihilating seventeen of the enemy before he himself was fatally wounded. Private First Class Forsythe’s indomitable fighting spirit and great personal valor throughout this desperate action were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.