The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Legion of Merit to Lieutenant John T. Manry, III, United States Naval Reserve, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States when attached to the U.S.S. BISCAYNE (AVP-11) during the invasion of Italy in 1944. Lieutenant Manry unhesitatingly led a fire-fighting party aboard a merchant ship which had been struck by an enemy bomb and set afire. Despite the peril of imminent explosions, he courageously directed the fire-fighting operations, eventually succeeding in controlling the flames.