The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Gunner’s Mate Third Class Joseph F. Little, United States Navy, for heroic conduct when a plane crashed at the Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, Rhode Island, on 14 June 1943, and burst into flames on top of a revetment containing fifty-five 1,000-pound bombs. Gunner’s Mate Third Class Joseph F. Little and Seaman Second Class George J. Erbsland ran to the aid of the pilot who was trapped in the blazing fuselage. They cut the parachute straps, pulled the helpless man free and extinguished his flaming clothing with their bare hands.