The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Major Amedeo Rea (MCSN: 0-7296), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism as Commanding Officer of the Second Battalion, Twenty-Sixth Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 15 March 1945. When heavy hostile fire stopped his Battalion’s attack on the seventh consecutive day of unusually close contact with well-camouflaged enemy caves in extremely rough terrain, Major Rea advanced into the front lines and reorganized the remnants of his Battalion which was reduced to forty-four percent of its full strength. Although suffering from extreme fatigue, he then moved ahead of his front lines and personally led his exhausted men in a four hundred yard charge which overran a strongly defended Japanese ridge. By his fearless leadership, cool courage and determination, he served as an inspiration to his men in seizing an objected which contributed greatly to the ultimate success of the operation. His devotion to duty was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.