The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Junior Grade Robert Soule Swan (NSN: 0-112160), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight in a United States Navy Bombing Plane on 23 July 1943. When his plane was called from a submarine hold-down flight to the scene of a previous attack on an enemy submarine, he fought the surfaced vessel and rendered invaluable aid until one of the bombs released by his plane destroyed the hostile ship. However, it exploded with such force that it sent his plane crashing into the sea.