The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Commander [then Lieutenant] Douglas L. Clarke, United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight during a search and rescue flight deep in hostile territory over North Vietnam on 17 October 1965. Flight to the SAR scene involved crossing a surface-to-air missile envelope and flying over known anti-aircraft positions at low altitude with an airborne MiG alert in the vicinity. After two downed pilots were located in a nearly inaccessible location, the rescue planes were required to make aerobatic maneuvers at a dangerously low altitude to keep the pilots in sight. The flight remained at the scene for two hours, encountering periodic anti-aircraft fire. When the helicopter was forced to leave the area because of shortage of fuel, Lieutenant Commander Clarke provided protection until the helicopter was safely aboard ship.