Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Corporal

Unit:

Company C, 1st Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division "The Spearhead", U.S. Marine Corps

Awarded for:

Operation Detachment

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as a Squad Leader of Company C, First Battalion, Twenty-Eight Marines, Fifth Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 9 March 1945. When his company assaulted a strongly defended hostile ridge position but was unable to hold it due to a terrific enemy bombardment, Corporal Dillehay dug in with his squad and held position for twenty hours despite hostile mortar and rifle fire. Personally making a reconnaissance and discovering an enemy position from which the heaviest fire was coming, he assaulted and destroyed it with hand grenades and rifle fire. Wounded in this action, he lay beyond the front lines until his organization secured the ridge and rescued him. By his outstanding courage and devotion to duty under hostile fire, Corporal Dillehay provided valuable information of enemy positions which greatly aided his company in the accomplishment of its mission, and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.