(Citation Needed) – SYNOPSIS: Storekeeper First Class William G. Mitchell, United States Coast Guard, was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for extremely heroic conduct while serving aboard a U.S. Coast Guard cutter in attempting the rescue o survivors of a sinking U.S. Army Transport. When a small boat containing thirty-two survivors of the sinking ship was so violently thrown about by the rough seas that three men were thrown over the side Storekeeper First Class Mitchell volunteered to go the rescue of the helpless men. Disregarding a northerly gale, snow, extremely rough seas and the near freezing temperature of the water, Storekeeper First Class Mitchell clad in a rubber suit, descended a cargo net and entered the water in an effort to retrieve one of the survivors. In spite of the extremely unfavorable condition under which he worked he continued his efforts to save the man until he was helpless as a result of the combined effects of the benumbing cold and the continuous battering of his body against the side of the ship by the heavy seas. In a semi-conscious condition he was hauled back aboard the cutter and forced to desist from his heroic efforts.