The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Commander [then Lieutenant] Porter W. Maxwell, United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight while piloting a dive bomber in the Solomon Islands area from 3 October to 8 November 1942. Commander Maxwell fought with outstanding skill and released his bombs on enemy surface forces, ground installations and troop concentrations. On 8 October he led his flight in an attack on the Japanese fleet near Guadalcanal and scored direct hits on a heavy cruiser.