Norman Edmond Ward

Major, U. S. Marine Corps

Silver Star

GENERAL ORDERS:
Commander in Chief, Pacific: Serial 0647
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Second Lieutenant Norman E. Ward (MCSN: 0-19977), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while attached to the Second Amphibian Tractor Battalion, SECOND Marine Division during action against enemy Japanese forces at Tarawa, Gilbert Islands on 20 November 1943.
After disembarking assault troops on the heavily fortified beachhead on D-Day, Second Lieutenant Ward boldly returned to the edge of a treacherous coral reef to assist other units halted in the water by the enemy's concentrated shell fire. Using his tractor as a shield by driving between the gun fire and the troops he effectively covered their advance to shore and at the same time, skillfully manned his vehicle's mounted machine gun to deliver destructive return fire against the fanatic Japanese.
Upon reaching the beach he dauntlessly continued in the fight providing overhead fire for oncoming troops until his tractor was completely demolished by a bursting Japanese shell. By his zealous devotion to duty in the face of tremendous odds, Second Lieutenant Ward contributed materially to the success of our forces in capturing this vital hostile stronghold and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.