Robert Patrick Curran

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Robert Patrick Curran (0-16797), First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps (Reserve), for extraordinary heroism as Commanding Officer of Company G, Second Battalion, Twenty-Fifth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, from 27 February to 16 March 1945. Still under medical treatment for previously sustained wounds, First Lieutenant Curran voluntarily assumed command of his unit on 27 February and reorganized a force seriously depleted and disrupted by heavy casualties. Assigned the mission of establishing contact with an adjacent Battalion on 12 March, he led his battle-weary troops in an enveloping movement against a well-organized and numerically superior enemy established on a commanding ridge. Although suffering from additional wounds, he placed himself in the immediate front lines and directed the assault on hostile caves, pillboxes, mortars, machine guns and riflemen, remaining at the head of his exhausted force until the Japanese positions had been completely overrun, and the defenders either killed or routed. Immediately continuing the advance, he established contact with the adjacent Battalion and participated in a subsequent attack which cleared the last remnants of the enemy from the Division’s zone of action. First Lieutenant Curran’s personal heroism and daring leadership in the face of overwhelming odds sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

SPOT AWARD, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific: Serial 78805