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 (Air Corps) Donald E. Bone, United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary achievement in aerial flight while a squadron leader of a flight of B-24 aircraft which took part in the first mass daylight raid against a heavily defended Japanese oil refining center in Balikpapan, Borneo on 30 September 1944. Carrying the maximum bomb and fuel load and with his ammunition supply cut in half, he flew a record distance of more than 2,500 miles over water without fighter escort to bomb an area where aggressive and determined enemy fighters pressed unrelenting attacks and when he encountered intense and accurate anti-aircraft fire. On approaching the target his airplane was seriously damaged by hostile fire, but he maintained his position in the formation and completed a successful bombing run. With exceptional skill he then piloted his badly damaged airplane back to a safe landing. The outstanding courage and devotion to duty displayed by Lieutenant Bone during this flight are worthy of the highest commendation an reflects great credit upon himself and the Armed forces of the United States of America.