The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Commander Olof M. Carlson, Jr., United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as the flight leader of four A-4C aircraft in the retaliatory strike against Chanh Hoa, North Vietnam, on 11 February 1965. Detaching his flight from the strike group and proceeding independently without navigational aids, he led the flight through an overcast to an altitude of 500 feet and, in visibility of less than two miles, navigated precisely to the target area for a precision, low-level attach which inflicted extensive damage to the enemy installations.