The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant, Junior Grade Robert S. Evarts, United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight during World War II. Piloting a plane in the Solomon Islands area on 3 – 5 October 1942, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Evarts and his companions fought through withering anti-aircraft fire to hit an enemy cruiser with two bombs, score a near miss on a destroyer, besides shooting down one of the attacking planes. Later, he was one of the 9 out of 15 pilots to fly through a tropical storm and drop his bomb load directly on the target at Rekata Bay.