Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Second Lieutenant

Unit:

Company E, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division "The Spearhead", U.S. Marine Corps

Awarded on:

August 15th, 1945

Awarded for:

Operation Detachment

"The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Second Lieutenant Edward S. Pennell (MCSN: 0-30461), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism as a Rifle Platoon Leader of Company E, Second Battalion, Twenty-Eighth Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 20 February 1945. Boldly defying intense enemy fire to attempt a rescue of five wounded men who were inaccessible to litter bearers and in need of immediate medical attention, Second Lieutenant Pennell ran one hundred yards to a tank and, by the use of the tank telephone, guided it into a position adjacent to two of the more seriously wounded me. After his men had placed the two wounded Marines in a small trench, he directed the movement of the tank until it straddled the casualties, enabling the wounded men to be pulled into the tank through the escape hatch in the floor. Still exposed to heavy hostile fire, he guided the vehicle through his platoon's entrenchments to a tank road. Then, contacting a second tank, he repeated the rescue operations to remove two more seriously wounded men and, when the first tank returned to the front, succeeded in evacuating the fifth casualty. By his daring initiative and courage under fire, Second Lieutenant Pennell undoubtedly saved the lives of five of his men. His leadership throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."

SPOT AWARD, Fleet Marine Force Pacific: Serial 43156