The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal (Posthumously) to Chief Commissary Steward Walter Leonard Schoenrock (NSN: 4091506), United States Navy, for heroic conduct on 15 August 1942. Chief Commissary Steward Schoenrock volunteered to swim 150 yards through a treacherous surf and undertow to assist an officer in securing an escape buoy line from a wrecked naval vessel to a coral reef. He overcame the current drift and made the messenger line fast so that eventually the entire ship’s company was able to pass over a riding line to safety.