The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant Fred J. Drinkwater, Jr. (MCSN: 0-49226), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight against the enemy in Korea on 30 November 1951, while serving as a Marine Fighter Pilot on a support mission near Oeryomsong-ni. First Lieutenant Drinkwater, diving through an intense concentration of small arms fire, skillfully assaulted an enemy staging area far behind enemy lines. By his superb airmanship and daring tactics in the face of grave personal risk, First Lieutenant Drinkwater demolished three tanks and extensively damaged another. He further persisted in the engagement with the enemy by strafing a row of supply buildings until they were engulfed in flames and secondary explosions. First Lieutenant Drinkwater’s zealous devotion to duty and professional competence in this engagement severely hampered the enemy’s efforts to re-supply front line elements and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.