The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy (MCSN: 0-11098), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Commanding Officer of Company G, Second Battalion, Twenty-fourth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Marianas Islands, 4 July 1944. With his company in a defensive position and receiving intense and accurate enemy rifle and machine-gun fire, Captain McCarthy gallantly left cover to answer the cries of the wounded after two hospital corpsmen had been shot in quick succession while attempting to aid a wounded officer. Finding one of the men still alive, he attempted to remove him to safety, despite the withering enemy fire, but during this endeavor, the wounded man was shot through the head, and died in Captain McCarthy's arms. His outstanding courage, unselfish efforts, and gallant devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
