The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander Joseph Aloysius Ruddy, Jr., United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Scouting Plane in Escort Scouting Squadron TWENTY-NINE (VS-29), attached to the U.S.S. SANTEE (CVE-9), during the occupation of French Morocco, from 8 to 11 November 1942. In order to obtain accurate and vital information concerning hostile operations at the Marrakech airdrome, Lieutenant Commander Ruddy, with utter disregard for his own personal safety, set out upon a hazardous reconnaissance flight over the area at an extremely low altitude. Although his plane was hit during a fierce concentration of gunfire, he made a second approach on the airdrome and scored a direct bomb hit on the hangar. Later, when enemy troops lay in ambush ahead of advancing United States forces, he searched for and led an effective aerial attack against their threatening positions.