The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Boatswain’s Mate First Class John J. Crippes, United States Navy, for heroism while serving with Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, on 6 August 1959. En route from Vallejo to his home in Antioch he encountered a gasoline tank truck and trailer that had plunged off an elevated highway into a schoolyard below and overturned. On determining from onlookers that the driver was still in the cab, Crippes immediately rushed down the embankment and, while standing in a pool of gasoline, single-handedly tried to extricate the trapped victim from the wreckage. When the gasoline ignited, he vainly continued his rescue efforts until the truck literally exploded hurling him away from the conflagration and inflicting severe burns on his body.