The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain Ralph Carroll Morse, Jr. (MCSN: 0-9745), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism as Commanding Officer of Company B, First Battalion, Twenty-Second Marines (Reinforced), First Provisional Marine Brigade, Fifth Amphibious Corps, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Parry island, Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall islands, 22 February 1944. Landing in the second assault wave in the face of heavy mortar and enfilading machine-gun fire which caused heavy casualties among his troops, Captain Morse quickly observed that the first wave of his company had not landed as planned and that the remnants of his troops were intermingled with troops of other units already on the beach. Immediately reorganizing all troops on the Battalion left flank, he led a successful charge through the immediate resistance and, dauntlessly maintaining the offensive, effectively carried out his tactical assignment by attaining the opposite side of the island and surprising a heavily armed force of approximately one hundred and fifty of the enemy moving along the coast to outflank an adjacent friendly battalion. Initiating a smashing assault, he aided in annihilating the Japanese force. Later, when a first attack on several enemy spider-type trenches failed due to heavy casualties, Captain Morse unhesitatingly organized another assault and, leading his men in a head-long attack under close-range machine-gun and hand grenade fire, succeeded in wiping out the enemy position. By his courage, forceful leadership and unwavering devotion to duty, Captain Morse served as an inspiration to his men and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.