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The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Corporal Joseph R. Driskell (MCSN: 283270),United States Marine Corps, for exceptional courage, presence of mind, and devotion to duty and disregard for his personal condition while serving on the U.S.S. NEVADA (BB-36) during the Japanese attack on the United States Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 7 December 1941. Corporal Driskell, the gun captain of No.9 broadside gun of the U.S.S. Nevada, was seriously wounded and burned, and most of his clothing burned off when a bomb exploded in the immediate vicinity of his gun. Disregarding his condition, he insisted on manning another gun after his own was wrecked. Despite serious leg wounds, he refused to join the wounded, but assisted other wounded men instead, and then joined fire-fighting squads which contributed materially to bringing the fires under control. His outstanding courage, aggressive fighting spirit, and devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon Corporal Driskell and the United States Naval Service.
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BURIED_ Highland Lawn Cemetery in Terre Haute, Ind
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Gilbert Islands Operation (1943)
From Month/Year
November / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1943
Description (Gilbert Islands operation November 13 - December 8, 1943) In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, from November 1943 through February 1944, were key strategic operations of the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. The purpose was to establish airfields that would allow land based air support for the upcoming operations across the Central Pacific. The campaign began with a costly three-day battle for the island of Betio at the Tarawa atoll. The campaign was preceded a year earlier by a diversionary raid on Makin Island by U.S. Marines in August, 1942.
Japanese bases in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands were the outer perimeter of eastern defenses for the Japanese Empire. The Marianas Campaign followed the next summer.