The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Charles “J” Badewitz (NSN: 0-250773), United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as flight leader and pilot of an attack bomber in Attack Squadron NINE HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE (VA-923), attached to the U.S.S. BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31), in attacks on North Korean and Chinese Communist forces. On 25 August 1951, Lieutenant Badewitz was assigned the important mission of destroying the heavily defended railroad and highway bridges located near Saenggiryong, North Korea. He successfully led a series of attacks on these bridges, and scoring direct hits with his general purpose bombs, he aided his flight in knocking out two complete spans of the highway bridge and one large section of the railroad bridge, rendering both of these primary targets completely unusable. His brilliant leadership and accurate strafing and bombing aided his division in heavily damaging and destroying two other highway bridges as TomYon and Ponggang, and important railroad bridges at CyhongYong and Kosong-Dong. He then led his flight in skillful strafing and napalm attacks on a camouflaged enemy locomotive near Usajang, which was destroyed, and six railroad cars, loaded with gasoline and vital foot stuffs, which exploded and completely burned. At Sangnyen-ni, Lieutenant Badewitz made two low-level napalm and strafing runs on ten boxcars, and scored direct hits with his 20-mm. ammunition and napalm, which left five of these boxcars in flames. His courageous leadership and alert aggressiveness, despite the intense and accurate small arms fire encountered at nearly all of these vital targets, made possible this tremendous amount of devastation, which has seriously hampered the enemy effort. His gallant devotion to duty was at all times in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.