The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant, Junior Grade James Patrick Shea (NSN: 667740), United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as pilot of an aircraft in Attack Squadron TWO HUNDRED FIFTEEN (VA-215), operating from U.S.S. HANCOCK (CVA-19) on 20 April 1965. Sighting a convoy of enemy trucks during a night road reconnaissance mission in North Vietnam, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Shea carried out a rocket attack in the face of intense ground fire and succeeded in destroying several vehicles. However, his aircraft did not recover from one of the dives and exploded when it hit the ground.