The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Second Lieutenant James F. Prendergast (MCSN: 0-27032), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism as a Platoon Leader, attached to Company I, Third Battalion, Eighth Marines, SECOND Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Mariana Islands, 15 and 26 June 1944. Assembling a small group of Marines to divert an enemy force threatening his company’s rear positions in a flanking maneuver, Second Lieutenant Prendergast fearlessly led his men in a vigorous attack into a wooded area where the Japanese were seen. Undeterred by a painful wound sustained during the ensuing action, he continued his daring advance and, fighting on with pistol and hand grenades when his carbine became inoperative, succeeded in killing seven of the enemy. Refusing evacuation despite a second wound, Second Lieutenant Prendergast crossed an open field under heavy machine-gun barrages, carrying a wounded man to a place of comparative safety for medical treatment. On 27 June, he led his platoon against two machine-gun emplacements in high cliffs, advancing over ground swept by intense hostile fire and saturated by grenades and dynamite charges dropped from above, and was wounded a third time while taking another man out of range of the Japanese weapons. Although ordered to the rear lines, he had inspired his men to carry out the attack with renewed determination and boldness, thereby contributing in a large measure to the reduction of the hostile strong point and to the success of our over-all operations on Saipan. His fortitude, brilliant leadership, indomitable spirit and heroic devotion to duty in the face of grave danger reflect the highest credit upon Second Lieutenant Prendergast and the United States Naval Service.