The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Seaman Daryl J. Sigurdsson, United States Navy, for heroic conduct on the afternoon of 5 December 1961 while serving on board U.S.S. MORTON (DD-948) at sea approximately 100 miles west northwest of San Diego, California. Hearing the cries of a shipmate trapped in a compartment filled with dense, toxic smoke during a shipboard fire, Seaman Sigurdsson unhesitatingly entered the compartment, groped his way through the blinding smoke, and succeeded in locating and in leading the safety the stricken shipmate. By his prompt, courageous, and decisive action in an emergency, Seaman Sigurdsson was directly responsible for saving a life.