Horace Bayne Cox

Captain, U. S. Marine Corps

Silver Star

GENERAL ORDERS:
Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force Pacific: Serial 00436-45
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Second Lieutenant Horace B. Knox (MCSN: 0-22794), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as a Communications Officer of the Second Battalion, Fifth Marines, FIRST Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu, Palau Islands, from 15 September to 13 October 1944.
Landing with a platoon under intense hostile artillery and mortar fire, Second Lieutenant Knox bravely worked his way through the barrage, gathering and reorganizing his scattered unit in order to establish communications between the Battalion Commander and his subordinate units, and tirelessly installed and repaired the rapidly extending communications lines.
Braving the continued mortar barrage, machine-gun fire and enemy infiltrations on several occasions, he personally directed his men in repairing lines necessary to the control of his Battalion's movements and, on one instance, moved out to repair the lines himself rather than endanger his assistants, thereby contributing materially to the success attained by his group. His courageous devotion to duty and leadership were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.