The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class Oliver W. Shay, United States Naval Reserve, for heroic conduct while serving aboard the LST 396 when it was attacked and sunk in the New Georgia area on 18 August 1943. Lieutenant Commander David C. James and Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class Oliver W. Shay entered a troop berthing compartment under which powder and gasoline were stored to save a helpless shipmate pinned under a mass of wreckage. They brought the man topside, performed an emergency amputation in the midst of smoke and flames, lowered him into a life raft and ministered to the man until rescued.