The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant [then Lieutenant, Junior Grade] Robert Lawrence Clancy, United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Dive Bomber of Bombing Squadron EIGHTEEN (VB-18), attached to the U.S.S. INTREPID (CV-11), in action against enemy Japanese forces during the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea on 25 October 1944. Braving intense anti-aircraft fire and adverse weather conditions, Lieutenant Clancy pressed home a vigorous attack to score a hit on an enemy battleship with his full bomb load, thereby contributing materially to the annihilation of a hostile Task Force. By his outstanding airmanship and courageous fighting spirit, Lieutenant Clancy aided in removing a serious threat to our ground forces and his unswerving devotion to duty was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.