The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Soldier’s Medal to Private First Class Eugene F. Townsend (ASN: 42166872), United States Army, for heroism not involving actual conflict with the enemy while serving with Company M, 3d Battalion, 232d Infantry Regiment, 42d Infantry Division, on 1 October 1945, near Abtenau, Austria. While Private Townsend and his assistant driver were on a road near Abtenau, Austria, the quarter-ton truck he was driving struck a soft spot, overturned, and rolled down an embankment into a stream, throwing the assistant driver into the swift current in an unconscious condition. Despite the severe injuries he had received, Private Townsend leapt into the water and, after a seventy-yard struggle against its strong flow, succeeded in pulling his comrade onto the surface of a large rock in midstream, where he immediately proceeded to give artificial respiration until aid arrived. Private Townsend’s heroic action was in keeping with the highest traditions of the armed forces of the United States.