The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Ensign William Francis Bland (NSN: 0-305905), United States Naval Reserve, for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight in operations against the enemy in the Philippines on 18 October 1944. As pilot of a carrier-based fighter bomber plane he scored a direct bomb hit upon a 4,000 ton troop-laden enemy transport near Camiguin Island, causing it to be beached in a seriously damaged condition. Previously on 10 October 1944, he participated in a four-plane strafing attack upon an enemy destroyer at Okinawa Island, which set it afire and caused it to be beached and abandoned. His courage and skill were inspiring and were at all times in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.