The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, 20 July 1942, takes pleasure in presenting the Legion of Merit to Colonel (Air Corps), [then Lieutenant Colonel] Leroy C. Hinchcliffe, United States Army Air Forces, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States from September 1942 to August 1945. (This award supersedes the award of the Bronze Star Medal to Colonel Hinchcliffe, as published in General Orders 194, Headquarters Ninth Air Force, 2 August 1944.)