The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Legion of Merit to Boatswain Robert L. Self, United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States during the assault on Sicily in July 1943. Informed that the U.S.S. MADDOX had been torpedoed, Boatswain Self skillfully directed his ship to the scene and, operating over a two-mile-square area, picked up all survivors of the destroyed vessel and transported them to safety.