The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Ensign Everleigh D. Willems, United States Navy, for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight by his courageous, skillful, and persistence reconnaissance flights as Pilot of a Scouting Plane in action in the Coral Sea Battle, 7 – 8 May 1942, which contributed materially to the successful tracking of enemy forces and the maintenance of effective combat patrols by our forces in the face of heavy enemy opposition.