The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Ensign William Kennedy Boone, Jr., United States Navy (Reserve Force), for heroism at the risk of life not involving conflict with an armed enemy in lieu of Letter of Commendation by the Secretary of the Navy dated 5 August 1918. While serving aboard the U.S.S. LOUISIANA, jumped overboard in an attempt to rescue an enlisted man who had fallen in a strong ebb tide and later drowned.