Howard Eli Smith

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Private First Class Howard E. Smith (MCSN: 432003), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty while serving with Company A, First Battalion, Twenty-Fourth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on enemy Japanese forces during the invasion of Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll, 2 February 1944. After killing four of the enemy who had dropped a grenade into a Marine light tank, Private First Class Smith handed his gun to a comrade and proceeded forward alone, unarmed and in the face of hostile rifle and machine-gun fire, to pull the wounded out of the burning tank and into a nearby shell hole. His exceptional courage, gallant fighting spirit and willingness to sacrifice his own safety for that of other imperiled Marines reflected the highest credit upon Private First Class Smith and the United States Naval Service.