Roy Lee Vantine

Captain, U. S. Marine Corps

Silver Star

GENERAL ORDERS:
Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force Pacific: Serial 56880
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant Roy L. Vantine (MCSN: 0-19616), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as a Platoon Leader of Company G, First Battalion, Twenty-first Marines, THIRD Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 28 February 1945.
Assigned the left half of the company sector during an advance against well-entrenched hostile troops defending a strategic hill, First Lieutenant Vantine courageously led his men in the attack against intense enemy mortar and machine-gun fire. Although adjacent units were stopped, he advanced 1000 yards in an attempt to seize the hill.
Twice repulsed, First Lieutenant Vantine organized a third assault which resulted in the securing of the hill and the capture of three light and two heavy machine guns. By his skilled tactics and efficient leadership, he contributed materially to the unopposed advance of the adjacent units, and his outstanding devotion to duty was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.