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 Captain (General Staff Corps) Thomas E. Bennett (ASN: 0-340227), United States Army, for heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy of the United States while serving with Headquarters, 1st Infantry Division, in action in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, in 1943. When the officers he had accompanied on a reconnaissance mission were seriously wounded by an exploding mine, Captain Bennett, in an effort to evacuate them to a clearing station where adequate medical treatment could be given, directed his vehicle over unfamiliar terrain, through uncharted enemy mine fields despite almost total darkness. Although the officers did not recover, Captain Bennett’s courage and devotion to duty reflect the highest traditions of the military service.