The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Lieutenant, Junior Grade John H. Foster (NSN: 0-648924), United States Navy, for heroic conduct on 4 January 1964 while serving on board the U.S.S. LOCATOR (AGR-6) in Northeast Pacific Waters. When large waves swamped and capsized the port motor whaleboat while it was about to be hoisted aboard the LOCATOR, causing the crew of seven to be washed overboard, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Foster quickly removed his outer clothing, donned a life jacket, and dived over the fantail of the LOCATOR into the icy and heavy seas to go to the assistance of one of the victims, who appeared to be stunned and was drifting away from the rescue area. Swimming approximately three hundred yards in the face of ten-foot waves and thirty-knot winds, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Foster reached the side of the exhausted man and succeeded in towing him back toward the vessel where a shipmate aided him in completing the rescue. Having been in the frigid water over thirty minutes, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Foster, himself, was suffering from exposure, muscular cramps and exhaustion. His outstanding courage and initiative in risking his life to save that of another, reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Naval Service.