The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Legion of Merit to Construction Mechanic First Class Charles W. Woodmaney, United States Naval Reserve, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as a member of a pontoon causeway crew that rescued 90 survivors of the U.S.S. LST 158 when that vessel was bombed on 11 July 1943, during the invasion of Sicily. He and his comrades unhesitatingly risked their lives by repeated trips in an amphibious truck to survivors struggling in the water near the burning, exploding ship.