Rayford O'Dell Scott

Sergeant Major, U. S. Marine Corps

Silver Star

GENERAL ORDERS:
Commander South Pacific: Serial 00773 (May 15, 1946)
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Gunnery Sergeant Rayford O. Scott (MCSN: 300168), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with Company F, Second Battalion, Twenty-first Marines, THIRD Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces at Bougainville, Solomon Islands, on 13 November 1943.
When his company suffered heavy casualties under intense enemy machine-gun and rifle fire while passing through Japanese lines, Gunnery Sergeant Scott, on his own initiative, made his way through fierce hostile fire to his battalion commander and reported the company's perilous and disorganized condition.
With undaunted courage, he then volunteered to return with orders directing his company to a position behind the battalion lines and, despite the extreme danger, succeeded in completing this vital and daring mission. Gunnery Sergeant Scott's great personal valor and unfaltering devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.