The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Commander Jack Drage Lyon, United States Coast Guard, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight during the early morning of 14 July 1960, as Aircraft Commander of UF2G CGNR 7284, based at the Coast Guard Air Detachment Sangley Point, Republic of the Philippines. Directing the search for survivors from a ditched Northwest Airlines DC7C airplane, approximately seventy miles northeast of Sangley Point, under adverse weather and flying conditions, Lieutenant Commander LYON skillfully planned and coordinated the SAR operations as the On Scene Commander. Fifty-seven survivors were sighted in life rafts, many of whom appeared to be in shock and deep despair. Expertly evaluating the overall situation, he quickly decided that an open sea landing was required to remove the survivors, and assisted in landing the plane safely, under the hazardous sea conditions existing. Twenty-three of the survivors were then expeditiously transferred from the rafts to the aircraft, and the remaining were rescued by a Navy P5M which had been directed to the scene. Lieutenant Commander Lyon, accompanied by the Navy P5M, then skillfully taxied the crowded plane twenty miles to the sheltered waters of Anibawan Bay, Polillo Island, for further evacuation of the weary survivors to Manila. His expert airmanship, dauntless valor, sound judgment and unwavering devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Coast Guard.