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 Second Lieutenant (Air Corps) Maurice E. Bair, United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary achievement by participating in heavy bombardment missions and allied operational flights totaling more than two hundred hours during World War II, during which exposure to enemy fire was probable and expected. These flights, in which they have flown from bases in India, over Burma, Thailand, china, and the Andaman Islands, have been eminently successful. The devotion to duty, exhibited in the execution of these assignments, and the cooperation displayed therein, as an essential and vital part of a combat team, has contributed much to the successes characterizing these operations.