The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Lieutenant Commander Richard Robert Smith, United States Coast Guard, for while serving aboard the U.S.S. ARTHUR MIDDLETON (AP-55), as coxswain of a Power Boat during rescue operations when the U.S.S. WORDEN (DD-352) was stranded on 12 January 1943, in the Aleutian Islands. While mountainous seas beat heavily against the stricken ship and crashed on the adjacent rocks, he fearlessly set out in a powerboat for the warship. Maneuvering his craft through treacherous waters he made repeated trips to the stranded ship and succeeded in rescuing about 45 men while the other boats under his daring command saved an additional 155 who might otherwise have perished.