(Citation Needed) – SYNOPSIS: Lieutenant, Junior Grade Robert W. Rynd, United States Navy, was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for extraordinary heroism and meritorious conduct at the risk of life not involving conflict with an armed enemy, in rescuing the pilot of a plane which had crashed and was burning. Lieutenant Rynd proceeded to the scene over a rough road almost blocked by fallen timber and found the plane in flames with the pilot trapped in the cockpit in a stunned condition. After repeatedly braving the flames and suffering severe burns from the intense heat, he finally succeeded with his bare hands in tearing an opening in the cockpit enclosure and removing the pilot.