The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Captain Harry Raymond Thurber (NSN: 0-34578), United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States as Assistant Chief of Staff and Operations Officer, and during certain periods of planning and combat operations as Acting Chief of Staff, on the Staff of the Commander South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force during the period from 24 December 1942 to 24 March 1944. Captain Thurber, by his sound and courageous judgment, his outstanding grasp of the overall strategic aspects of sea, air and amphibious warfare, his initiative, thorough organization, superior planning, willingness to accept responsibility, and consistently skillful correlation of the activities of combatant and supporting units in the area, contributed in superlative degree to the success of our forces against the enemy during a long and arduous period that marked the Allied transition from the defensive to the offensive in the Pacific. His brilliant, aggressive direction of operations throughout, particularly in preparation for and during the stubbornly-contested New Georgia and Bougainville operations, was a marked factor in the successful prosecution and completion of the Allied offensive campaign in the British Solomon Islands, as a result of which great damage, decisively affecting the remaining course of the Pacific war, was inflicted upon Japanese forces and installations. Captain Thurber’s leadership, inspirational devotion to duty and conduct throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.