The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander Bruce Sutherland Weber (NSN: 0-77574), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Fighter Plane in Fighting Squadron THIRTY-ONE (VF-31), attached to the U.S.S. CABOT (CVL-28), while leading a strike of eight fighter planes in an attack upon the Japanese Battleship ISE in Kure Naval Base, Honshu, on 28 July 1945. Diving through one of the heaviest concentrations of anti-aircraft fire in Japan, he led the planes of his air group with such skill and daring and pressed his attack to such a low altitude that six direct hits were scored on the target. He personally obtained a direct hit with the bomb he was carrying and his leadership contributed greatly to the damage inflicted upon the battleship that day. His determination and skillful airmanship on this occasion were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.