Robert Manuel Ortiz

Private First Class, U. S. Marine Corps

Navy Cross

GENERAL ORDERS:
Commander in Chief Pacific Forces: Serial 52827 (January 31, 1946)
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Private First Class Robert Manuel Ortiz (MCSN: 830641), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty while serving as an Automatic Rifleman in a platoon of Company F, Second Battalion, Twenty-Fifth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, from 19 February to 1 March 1945.
Despite lack of previous experience as a flame thrower, Private First Class Ortiz repeatedly volunteered his services when two flame thrower operators in his company became casualties. Joining whichever platoon was engaged in the assault, he voluntarily carried his weapon many times through murderous enemy machine-gun, sniper and rifle fire to positions fifty to one hundred yards in front of the liens, steadfastly refusing relief from this extremely hazardous and tiring duty until he had aided in the destruction of ten Japanese pillboxes.
On 1 March, courageously attempting to extricate his company from a heavy barrage of fire from an enemy-fortified emplacement, after a demolition team had failed to get close enough to destroy this position, he crawled with his flame thrower to an exposed but advantageous firing point and, by diverting the hostile fire from the demolition team, enabled it to contact and destroy the hostile group. Mortally wounded during this action, Private First Class Ortiz, by his aggressiveness and indomitable fighting spirit, had accounted for at least fifty of the Japanese, contributing materially to the successful accomplishment of his company's mission. His courageous devotion to duty was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.