The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Admiral Charles D. Griffin, United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States as Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Southern Europe, from March 1965 through January 1968. As a result of his direction and his skill in coordination, the security and operational readiness of the multinational forces committed to his command were improved significantly. Serving in this key post of international significance, Admiral Griffin made outstanding contributions to the security interests of the United States, and considerably enhanced the security posture of the North Atlantic Alliance.

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Admiral Charles D. Griffin, United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Fleet Operations and Readiness) from December 1961 to June 1963. The readiness and proper deployment of U.S. Navy forces during the Cuban quarantine were a major concern of Admiral [then Vice Admiral] Griffin. His perception and understanding both of possible measures available to our forces and of the likely response to be expected of our adversaries, enabled him to discharge his responsibilities during this crisis with great skill. Under his leadership, the concept of specially trained counterinsurgency teams was developed, and the first Sea, Air, Land (SEAL) teams were established. He also helped introduce into the Fleet such important contributions as the Automatic Air Intercept Control Computer, Drone Antisubmarine Helicopter (DASH) weapon system, P3A ORION Patrol Plane and Fleet Computer Programming Centers.