The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Commander Edgar Allen Cruise (NSN: 0-57515), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Air Officer of the U.S.S. SARATOGA (CV-3), in action with enemy Japanese forces in the Tulagi-Guadalcanal Area, on 7 and 8 August and 23 and 24 August 1942. By his highly efficient, judicious and foresighted planning, Commander Cruise skillfully directed the operations of the Air Department which resulted in brilliantly coordinated and successful aerial activities against the Japanese forces on 7 – 8 August, and which occasioned the repulse with heavy losses of strong enemy units converging on Tulagi and Guadalcanal on 23 – 24 August. His intrepid fighting spirit and inspiring devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.