Ernest F. Ballinger

The Navy Cross is presented to Ernest F. Ballinger, Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism during an engagement with a numerically superior force of armed bandits at Trinidad, Nicaragua on 3 April 1928, when a group of some thirty bandits hidden in buildings surrounding the plaza surprised the point of which he was a member and, under cover of darkness, concentrated a heavy fire upon it. Disregarding his personal safety and with great courage, Private First Class Ballinger voluntarily covered the advance of the point to an advantageous firing position where he immediately directed a well-aimed fire from his automatic rifle against the bandits.