William O. Koontz

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to William O. Koontz (240176), Platoon Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps (Reserve), for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty while serving with Regimental Weapons company, Twenty-Fourth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Marianas Islands, 7 July 1944. As a member of a small group of Marines, Platoon Sergeant Koontz assisted in locating a large number of enemy in two caves on the side of a steep ravine and in fighting them gallantly until all ammunition and grenades were expended, capturing eleven Japanese prisoners in the action. Then, with his group under heavy hostile fire from a jungle thirty yards away, he braved the relentless barrage on orders of his Commanding Officer to remove a wounded comrade to the rear. Learning later that the Commanding Officer has been wounded in the same location and that no Marines remained in the vicinity to furnish covering fire, Platoon Sergeant Koontz heroically returned to the scene alone, knowing that at least one man had already been wounded in attempting the rescue and that he himself had little chance of survival. With enemy fire showering him with rock fragments, piercing his equipment and passing through his clothing, he coolly and courageously dragged the wounded officer with one hand while hacking a path through the jungle with the other, thereby returning him to safety and making possible first aid, without which he might have died. His resolute fortitude in the face of overwhelming odds, self-sacrificing spirit and unwavering devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon Platoon Sergeant Koontz and the United States Naval Service.

SPOT AWARD, Commander in Chief, Pacific Forces: Serial 12795 (SofN Signed September 17, 1947)