The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Private First Class C. J. Kelton (MCSN: 870869), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty while serving with the Fifth Tank Battalion, Division Service Troops, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces at Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, on 22 February 1945. With his platoon command tank struck and set afire by hostile shellfire during a perilous advance northward against a fanatic, determined enemy, Private First Class Kelton promptly dismounted from his own vehicle and braved the enemy’s shattering 47-mm. antitank, mortar and small-arms fire in a valiant attempt to rescue the entrapped crew. Boldly pressing forward under the withering barrage, he crossed the 25-yard open area and unhesitatingly entered the blazing tank and then, working tirelessly and with superb courage, personally extricated two of the three wounded men from the tank and carried them back to his own vehicle despite the incessant shellfire. By his daring initiative, outstanding fortitude and grave concern for the safety of others at great risk to his own life, Private First Class Kelton contributed to the saving of three fellow Marines who otherwise might have perished and his self-sacrificing efforts throughout upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.