The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Aviation Structural Mechanic Safety Equipment Second Class Charles T. Watts, Jr., United States Navy, for heroism while attached to Strike Fighter Squadron ONE TWO TWO, Naval Air Station, Lemoore, California, on 10 November 2004. While on emergency leave in Parker, Florida, Petty Officer Watts observed a woman jump from the Old Dupont Bridge at the mouth of Saint Andrew bay. Immediately after seeing her struggle to stay afloat and hearing her cries for help, he leapt into the cold Intracoastal Waterway without regard for his own personal safety to rescue the woman who did not know how to swim. As the cold water began to incapacitate him, strong tidal currents carried him and the victim away from the bridge and into the open waters of the bay. Battling hypothermia and exhaustion, and too far from shore to pull the victim through the swift water, Petty Officer Watts maneuvered back to the bridge and linked arms with his brother to secure them to one of the bridge’s barnacle covered pilings. For 35 minutes he and his brother used their diminishing strength to lift the victim as high out of the water as they could until a rescue boat arrived. By his courageous and prompt actions in the face of great personal risk, Petty Officer Watts undoubtedly saved a life thereby reflecting great credit upon himself and upholding the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.