The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumously) to Hospital Corpsman Second Class Bruce Arnold Kaehler, United States Coast Guard, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight on the night of 17 February and the early morning of 18 February 1979 while serving as a crewman of Coast Guard HH-3F 1432 engaged in the perilous attempt to rescue a severely injured seaman from the Japanese fishing vessel KAISEI MARU NO. 18 which was located 210 miles southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Upon notification that a MEDEVAC was needed, the helicopter toward a rendezvous with a Coast Guard Headquarters Company-130 aircraft which had been dispatched to pinpoint the location of KAISEI MARU NO. 18. While en route, flying through heavy turbulence, high winds and snow showers, an updated position location for KAISEI MARU NO. 18 placed the vessel beyond the range of the helicopter, forcing Lieutenant Stiles to return to Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod. Receiving a further update on the vessel’s location, the aircraft was again launched into the deteriorating weather and located the wildly pitching vessel. While Petty Officer Kaehler prepared his equipment for the hapless seaman, a demanding approach to the surface was executed by the pilot. A tending line for the rescue litter failed when the line parted due to the motion of the vessel, and a second attempt failed due to the high winds. Before another attempt could be made, a mechanical malfunction occurred. Immediately the crippled aircraft was skillfully guided to the water in a level, controlled attitude. Upon reaching the surface, the turbulent seas capsized the aircraft, trapping Petty Officer Kaehler and three of the crewmen. Petty Officer Kaehler displayed expert aeronautical skill and valor, innovative actions, while sacrificing his own life, in his rescue attempt. His courage, fortitude and unwavering devotion to duty are most heartily commended and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Canadian Forces and the United States Coast Guard.