The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Sergeant Earl J. Mowery (MCSN: 279781), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and conspicuous devotion to duty as a member of the Second Platoon, Company A, First Tank Battalion, attached to Second Battalion, First Marines, FIRST Marine Division in action against enemy Japanese armed forces at the Tenaru River, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 21 August 1942. When his platoon leader’s tank became fast in a ditch while operating in the midst of the enemy, Sergeant Mowery promptly drove up and despite the peril of heavy enemy fire, climbed from his own tank, assisted with the towing cable and hauled the disabled tank from the ditch. His gallant and courageous action and his presence of mind saved the tank and its crew, thereby enabling the platoon to proceed on its mission intact. Sergeant Mowery’s meritorious devotion to duty and his complete disregard for his own safety in a situation of grave danger were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.