The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Ensign Robert M. Hendon, United States Navy, for heroic conduct as leading diver and later officer supervisor of salvage activities at Pearl Harbor, following the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. Ensign Herndon skillfully supervised assignments of enlisted men and personally participated in dives totaling more than 200 hours under water despite hazardous conditions within submerged hulls.