The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Private Max E. Melville (MCSN: 826644), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty while serving as an Automatic Rifleman of Company C, First Battalion, Twenty-Seventh Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 19 February 1945. Landing in the first wave under intense hostile machine-gun and 47-mm. gun fire from a pillbox to his direct front, Private Melville courageously and voluntarily proceeded forward of the front lines toward the Japanese position and, gallantly exposing himself to the rain of enemy fire, advanced close enough to the pillbox to use grenades. Despite the extreme personal danger involved, he stood up and tossed fragmentation and smoke grenades into the hostile position, forcing the five Japanese occupants out into the open. With the enemy throwing grenades and firing rifles at him as they emerged from the pillbox, Private Melville coolly stood his ground and succeeded in killing all of them before they could escape. By his initiative and aggressive fighting spirit, he silenced the Japanese emplacement, thereby preventing disorganization of his unit and heavy casualties. Private Melville’s bravery throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.