The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Second Lieutenant Francis T. Burke (MCSN: 0-34200), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism as a Platoon Leader of Company C, First Battalion, First Marines, FIRST Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu, Palau Islands, on the night of 19 – 20 September 1944. Assigned the mission of assaulting Hill 100, a heavily-defended coral nose studded with caves and concrete pillboxes, Second Lieutenant Burke gallantly led his platoon in a furious attack and reached the summit of the hill. Immediately coming under a heavy rifle caliber field piece which caused numerous casualties, he quickly consolidated the nine remaining men of his platoon into a defense of the forward portion of the hill. Although he received a severe bayonet wound in a hand-to-hand encounter with an enemy soldier, he resolutely remained in his exposed position and continued to lead his men in desperate combat with numerically superior attacking Japanese forces. At dawn, with his automatic weapon out of action, his ammunition exhausted and his position raked by heavy machine-gun fire, he was ordered to withdraw his men to a new position. Second Lieutenant Burke’s indomitable fighting spirit, aggressive leadership and courageous devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.