(Citation Needed) – SYNOPSIS: Ship’s Cook Third Class Waldron B. Chastain, United States Coast Guard, was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroic conduct while serving aboard a DE during rescue of survivors of the sunk U.S.S. LEOPOLD in the North Atlantic Area the night of 9 March 1944. Courageously volunteering to assist in the rescue activities, Ship’s Cook Third Class Chastain, although fully aware that his ship might be forced to leave the area to avoid hostile torpedoes or to attach enemy submarines operating in the vicinity, unhesitatingly went over the side into the icy, oil covered waters and secured life lines around exhausted survivors until he himself was completely exhausted and unable to continue his battle against rough seas.