Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Second Lieutenant

Unit:

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

Awarded for:

Operation Detachment

"For extraordinary heroism as a Platoon Leader of Company B, First Battalion, Twenty-Eighth Marines, Fifth Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 19 February 1945. Landing under intense hostile fire, First Lieutenant Wright led his platoon in a daring frontal attack against heavily armed and fanatically defended Japanese blockhouses, pillboxes and gun emplacements. Armed with only a carbine in the face of intense hostile mortar, machine-gun and artillery fire, he attacked and destroyed the occupants of an enemy pillbox that was holding up the advance of his platoon and then, rallying his troops, was one of the first men to reach the opposite side of the island. Advancing seven hundred yards in one hour and thirty minutes, he severed the island and isolated the Japanese forces on Mount Suribachi. His aggressive fighting spirit, high courage and unwavering devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."

SPOT AWARD, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific: Serial 42762.