Navy Federal Credit Union

Awards Received

  • Soldier’s Medal

    Service:

    United States Army Air Forces

    Rank:

    Corporal

    Action Date:

    December 22, 1937

    Decorations U.S. Army 1862 – 1926, Supplement 2 (1939)

    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 Corporal Richard F. Miller (ASN: 6547730), United States Army Air Corps, for heroism at the risk of life not involving conflict with an armed enemy displayed in attempting to rescue a soldier from drowning in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, on the evening of 22 December 1937. A soldier, while attempting to make a parachute jump from an Army airplane to Boston Airport in connection with a children’s Christmas party being staged at the airport, unfortunately landed in the water several hundred feet from shore. The only boat available was small and unseaworthy, but nevertheless in the face of apparent danger to themselves, Corporal Miller, together with another soldier, voluntarily set out in the boat to search for the drowning soldier. In spite of the leaky condition of the boat, they persisted in their efforts of rescue until the boat capsized and they themselves were in grave danger of drowning. Although Corporal Miller and his companion were unsuccessful in rescuing this soldier, their brave attempt in the rough, icy water, in the darkness of night characterizes it as an act of heroism.