The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Lieutenant William E. Smith, Jr., United States Navy, for heroic conduct on 25 June 1962 while serving on board U.S.S. TIRU (SS-416). When a casualty occurred while the ship was submerged, trapping 18 men in the after two compartments, Lieutenant Smith, equipped with an oxygen breathing device, was a member of the first rescue team to enter the compartments which were filled with toxic gas. Finding almost all of the trapped personnel unconscious, and hampered in his rescue efforts by the bulky oxygen breathing device, he removed the device and then repeatedly entered the toxic gas-filled spaces, moving four men to safety before being overcome. Reviving quickly, he re-entered the compartments by another route and succeeded in moving three additional men to safety before losing consciousness again.