The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Commander Joseph Stephen Henriquez, United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a Section Leader of a Division of four A-4F aircraft on a mission to suppress surface-to-air missile sites threatening the main reconnaissance group northeast of Haiphong, North Vietnam, on 7 July 1966. Lieutenant Commander Henriquez penetrated the heavily defended coastline in an attack which resulted in a probable kill of an enemy missile site. Then, diverting to a location of enemy PT boats, he made a dive-bombing run, seriously damaging one of the boats and causing a secondary explosion in the docking area. On his second run, he made a strafing attack on a second PT boat, scoring direct hits.