The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Boatswain’s Mate First Class Robert Arthur Bridges (NSN: 4124263), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty in action against the enemy while serving as a Member of an LCT Scout Boat during the amphibious assault on the Normandy Coast of France on 6 June 1944. Boatswain’s Mate First Class Bridges, with disregard for his own safety, worked tirelessly in an effort to unload vehicles and personnel from a United States Landing Craft Tank, exposing himself in so doing to heavy machine gun and artillery fire. He further displayed heroism when, after assisting in the evacuation of the wounded from his own ship, he boarded another Landing Craft Tank and manned a twenty-millimeter gun to engage an enemy machine-gun nest, enabling soldiers to move forward on the beach without opposition from this emplacement. The outstanding courage and initiative displayed by Boatswain’s Mate First Class Bridges on this occasion were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.