Navy Federal Credit Union

Awards Received

  • Navy and Marine Corps Medal

    Service:

    United States Navy

    Rank:

    Ensign

    Action Date:

    October 3, 1953

    The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Ensign Clifford R. Behnken (NSN: 0-533328), United States Navy, for the execution of acts above and beyond the call of duty and the clear display of extreme bravery in the saving of a human life while serving with Patrol Squadron TEN (VP-10), at Crete. At 2200 on 3 October 1953, after the failure of the port engine, his plane had to be ditched which left the aircraft broken and mangled aft of the cockpit. The radio compartment was crushed from the deck upward pinning the radioman, Aviation Electronicsman Third Class Ronald J. Roden, in between the radio racks and the overhead. Ensign Behnken and Radarman Spoonheim of their own volition worked together and went back into the plane through the navigator’s escape hatch, crawling through cramped space with gasoline polluted water up to their chests, and knowing that usually a ditched plane of this type doesn’t float long, usually about five minutes. After many attempts Roden was freed of the wreckage.