(Citation Needed) – SYNOPSIS: Gunner’s Mate First Class Elmer Harris, United States Coast Guard, was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroic conduct aboard a Destroyer Escort during the rescue of survivors of the sunk U.S.S. LEOPOLD in the North Atlantic Area on the nigh of 9 March 1944. Courageously volunteering to assist in rescue activities, Gunner’s Mate First Class Harris, although fully aware that his own ship might be forced to leave the area to avoid hostile torpedoes or to attack enemy submarines operating in the vicinity unhesitatingly went over the side into the icy, oil-covered waters and working tirelessly and with utter disregard for personal safety, secured life lines around the exhausted survivors until he himself was completely exhausted and unable to continue his battle against the rough seas. Gunner’s Mate First Class Harris’s splendid initiative and unselfish effort was contributing factors in the saving of many lives.