The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Private First Class Michael J. Brennan (MCSN: 472602), United States Marine Corps, for heroism in assisting in saving the lives of one officer and two enlisted men who were trapped beneath an amphibious tractor which, en rout e from ship to shore, had overturned in heavy surf; and for saving the life of one man who, although freed from underneath the tractor, was washed out to sea and unable to swim. While approaching the beach, on Saipan, Mariana Islands, 15 June 1944, the amphibious tractor in which Private First Class Brennan was embarked overturned, as it reached the fringing coral reef, and trapped Private First Class Brennan, one officer and four enlisted men beneath it. Finding that escape was possible through an opening between the coral and tractor, before freeing himself, Private First Class Brennan heroically helped those who had been injured or were overcome by fumes, forcing them through the opening to the outside whenever necessary. In so doing he disregarded the fact that the tractor’s position might be shifted and escape made impossible. Once free from the tractor, he learned that one of the men who had come from beneath the tractor before him had been washed out to sea and was unable to swim. Without regard for his own safety and with extreme heroism he swam after him, and despite the heavy surf was able to bring him to a buoy, where both men remained until another amphibious tractor carried them ashore. His cool presence of mind and heroic conduct, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.