The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting Legion of Merit to Rear Admiral Harvey Fletcher Johnson, United States Coast Guard, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as Engineer in Chief of the Coast Guard during the entire period of World War II. An astute and forceful administrator he organized and supervised a rigid program from the planning building and staffing of greatly expanded Coast Guard shore facilities both in combat areas and for the coastal defense of the United States and in addition developed aids to navigation including RACON stations and LORAN projects escort cutters and tender class vessel planes helicopters and numerous small craft used in port Security. As Chairman of the Merchant marine Council and President of a Board of Investigation convened by the Secretary of the navy inquire into the design and construction of steel merchant vessels, he advised and guided the Merchant Marine and the Army Water Transportation Services in maintained the safe and uninterrupted flow of enormous quantities of our nation’s manpower an was materials to the battlefronts of the world. By his brilliant direction of his command he contributed materially to the over all success of the Coast Guard program and to the prosecution of the war.