The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant, Junior Grade Joseph Cavanaugh Geraghty, United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Dive Bomber in Bombing Squadron SEVEN (VB-7), attached to the U.S.S. HANCOCK (CV-19), operating against units of the enemy Japanese Fleet in the Philippine Islands Area, on 29 October 1944. A brilliant combat pilot, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Geraghty fearlessly participated in a bold raid against a concentration of capital enemy warships caught in the harbor at Manila Bay following the widespread defeat of the Japanese Fleet during the Battle for Leyte Gulf a few days earlier. Determined to annihilate the enemy, he skillfully maneuvered in over the target area and, plunging through a deadly barrage of bursting anti-aircraft fire sent up by powerful ship and shore batteries, scored a direct hit on a Japanese cruiser. Stouthearted and indomitable in the face of intense opposition, he contributed materially to the further crippling of the battered Japanese surface forces, and his dauntless courage throughout the fierce hostilities reflects the highest credit upon Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Geraghty and the United States Naval Service.