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 Colonel (Chaplain) John K. Connelly, United States Army, for heroism while a member of the 5th Infantry Division at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, on 14 July 1952. Upon learning that an apparently deranged soldier had climbed to a small platform on the side of a water tower over 100 feet from the ground and was intent upon leaping to his death, Chaplain Connelly voluntarily climbed a narrow ladder to a position beside the soldier. While realizing that the mental condition of the soldier was such that he might offer resistance and that the slightest struggle on the narrow platform would result in both falling to their death, Chaplain Connelly spent almost one hour dissuading the soldier from his suicidal intent and persuading him to descend. During the descent on the narrow, vertical ladder, he preceded the soldier by only three rungs in order to block, by the use of his body, any last-minute jump. Chaplain Connelly’s utter disregard for safety and his outstanding courage reflect the highest credit on himself and the United States Army.