The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Machinist Judson G. Butland, United States Navy, for heroic conduct when a plane came in contact with a high-tension wire at New Caldonia on 8 December 1942, and several of its occupants were stunned by shock. Machinist Butland rescued four men while the plane was still in contact with the wire. He skillfully applied artificial respiration to one of the victims and directed the same treatment for the others.