DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
901 M STREET SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Lt. George Bush's DFC citation
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the
DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS
TO
LIEUTENANT, JUNIOR GRADE, GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH
UNITED STATES NAVAL RESERVE
for service as set forth in the following
CITATION: "For heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight
as Pilot of a Torpedo Plane in Torpedo Squadron FIFTY ONE, attached to the
U.S.S. San Jacinto, in action against enemy Japanese forces in the
vicinity of the Bonin Islands, on September 2, 1944. Leading one section
of a four-plane division in a strike against a radio station, Lieutenant,
Junior Grade, Bush pressed home an attack in the face of intense antiaircraft
fire. Although his plane was hit and set afire at the beginning of his dive,
he continued his plunge toward the target and succeeded in scoring damaging
bomb hits before bailing out of the craft. His courage and devotion to duty
were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Reserve."
For the President,
Secretary of the Navy
Copy to: Pers 01
Public Relations, Navy Dept.
rough draft: 13 Sept 1946
weil
Ref.: Com2ndCarTasForPac Ser.: 0596 of Mis 21U
(NOTE: In the above photo, the Distinguished Flying Cross is on the left.
The Air Medal is on the right. The two gold stars on the Air Medal's suspension
ribbon represent a second and third award of the same medal. Both rest beneath
the embroidered version of the Naval Aviatior badge.)
12 May 1996
