The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain Donald H. Castle (MCSN: 0-11120), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism as Commanding Officer of Company H, Third Battalion, Twenty-Sixth Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 7 March 1945. Commanding his company in an attack along a ridge stubbornly defended by the Japanese entrenched in spider traps and caves, Captain Castle was aggressively leading his men through the intense fire when an enemy suicide group in a cave blew themselves up with a terrific explosion which rocked the entire ridge, causing numerous casualties among his men and disarming and disorganizing the remainder. Courageously moving forward among the dazed men in the face of intense mortar, rifle and machine-gun fire, he personally reorganized his company and, rallying his men, led them in the continuation of the attack. By his intrepid actions and indomitable spirit, he averted a probable serious counterattack. His gallant devotion to duty was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.