The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Private James E. Sands (MCSN: 344954), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and conspicuous devotion to duty while serving as a member of a Rifle Company of the Second Battalion, Seventh Marines, FIRST Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 26 October 1942. In a counterattack to regain a position through which the enemy had penetrated, Private Sands, armed only with hand grenades, fearlessly rushed the Japanese emplacements. Knocking out one heavy machine gun and a light gun position, he secured a favorable position for one of our own weapons, kept on fighting until he was wounded in the hip, and then refused aid until the position had been consolidated. His relentless fighting spirit and courageous devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.