Roy Stanley Geiger

The Navy Cross is presented to Roy Stanley Geiger, Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, for distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of Airplane Squadron No. 2, 1st Marine Aviation Force, attached to the Northern Bomb Group (USN), in which capacity he trained and led this Squadron on bombing raids against the enemy. His conduct throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Navy of the United States.

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Navy Cross to Roy Stanley Geiger (0-332), Major General, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession while serving as Commanding Officer, Aviation Units (Guadalcanal), during action against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands from 3 September 1942 to 4 November 1942. Despite almost continuous bombardment by enemy aircraft, hostile naval gunfire and shore-based artillery, the combined total of Army, Navy and Marine Corps units stationed at Guadalcanal under Major General Geiger’s efficiently coordinated command, succeeded in shooting down 286 Japanese planes in aerial combat and inflicting damage on a number estimated to be great. Aerial attacks launched under his direction destroyed 23 additional aircraft on the ground or water, sank six enemy vessels including one heavy cruiser and five light cruisers. Directing operations under hazardous conditions frequently imperiling his own life, Major General Geiger, by his tenacious fortitude and unerring devotion to duty, served as an inspiration to all the officers and men under his command.

SPOT AWARD (November 9, 1942)