The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant (Nurse Corps), [then Second Lieutenant] Mary Louise Hawkins (ASN: N-737974), United States Army, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight while serving with the Air Transportation Command as Flight Nurse in charge of patients of a crashed evacuation airplane on Bellona Island, Solomons Group, on 26 September 1944. First Lieutenant Hawkins displayed unusual courage in rendering prompt and efficient first-aid treatment to an injured passenger immediately after the accident. Examination of the patients extricated with her from the wreckage disclosed that a wounded Marine Corps enlisted man had suffered throat injuries in the crash and was threatened with death by asphyxiation. Although badly shaken by the craw, First Lieutenant Hawkins performed an emergency operation, enabling the patient to breathe and thereby saving his life. First Lieutenant Hawkins’ immediate performance of technically difficult acts despite the stress incident to the crash landing of the airplane is an example of steadfast courage which reflects great credit on herself and the Army Nurse Corps.