The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Lieutenant Commander John H. Smoot, United States Navy, for heroism on 21 December 1967, while serving with a training squadron at Meridian, Mississippi. Upon witnessing an automobile crash into a creek near the Naval Auxiliary Air Station, he unhesitatingly plunged into the cold waters and effected the rescue of two incapacitated victims in the sinking automobile. His prompt action undoubtedly saved the lives of the two people involved in the accident.