The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain Walter J. Ridlon, Jr. (MCSN: 0-7777), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism as Commanding Officer of Company F, Second Battalion, Twenty-Fourth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, from 19 February to 16 March 1945. When all his officer platoon leaders and many non-commissioned officers were wounded during several unsuccessful attempts to attack and capture a strongly defended hostile position, Captain Ridlon moved forward of his company alone, assaulted two enemy bunkers with grenades and, calling for a flame thrower operator, covered the entrance to the first bunker while the operator shot a flame into the same emplacement. Constantly under heavy fire from the right which incapacitated the flame thrower operator, he continued forward to the second bunker alone and, although painfully wounded by grenades when several Japanese ran out, succeeded in neutralizing the second entrenchment. Ordering his company to move forward and join him on the ridge, he established a strong defensive position for the night and, refusing evacuation for his wounds, brilliantly led them during the remained of the operation. By his valor and quick thinking at a precarious moment, he rallied his troops and directed them in occupying an important objective. His indomitable fighting spirit and courageous devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon Captain Ridlon and the United States Naval Service.