The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Soldier’s Medal to Private James J. Kelleher (ASN: 6114852), United States Army, for heroism at the risk of life not involving conflict with an armed enemy, while serving with Company B, 54th Quartermaster Regiment, in assisting in the rescue of two civilians from drowning in the harbor of Boston, Massachusetts, during the height of a hurricane on the afternoon of 21 September 1938. On seeing two men clinging to a capsized boat a considerable distance from shore, Private Kelleher and three other enlisted men hastened to the assistance of the imperiled men. Despite the violence of the wind which at times exceeded a velocity of 90 miles per hour, making it impossible to stand erect, Private Kelleher and his three enlisted companions, without regard for their personal safety and at extreme peril to themselves, crawled for a distance of 800 feet along a dilapidated, nail-studded and unsafe breakwater exposed to the full fury of the elements. On reaching the point on the breakwater where the exhausted men were now clinging, Private Kelleher and his companions assisted them onto the structure and in crawling along its exposed surface to a point from which the entire party was rescued by the crew of a police boat. The heroism displayed on this occasion by Private Kelleher reflects great credit upon himself and the military service.