The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Second Lieutenant (Air Corps) William Stewart McHenry, Jr. (ASN: 0-797159), United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a B-24 Heavy Bomber of the 9th Bombardment Squadron, 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy), TENTH Air Force, while participating in a bombing mission on 18 October 1943, against enemy targets in Burma. On that date, Second Lieutenant McHenry’s units was in action against enemy Japanese forces as part of a 7-plane bombing mission over Heho Airdrome in Burma. His plane was hit by gunfire, causing the severely damaged plane to fall back from the formation and loose altitude. Japanese fighters turned their attention on the crippled bomber, but Lieutenant McHenry skillfully controlled his airplane long enough for six members of the crew to bail out before a wing was ripped from the fuselage and his bomber crashed in flames. The personal courage and zealous devotion to duty displayed by Second Lieutenant McHenry on this occasion, at the cost of his life, have upheld the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army Air Forces.