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 Captain (Air Corps) Hez McClellan, U.S. Army Air Corps, for extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight as commanding officer and pilot on a cross country flight from Washington D.C. to Nome, Point Barrow, and other Alaskan points during the summer of 1935. Capitan McClellan planned the entire flight, voluntarily commanded it during it’s entirety, and personally piloted the airplane over the thousands of miles of desolate, rough, and sparsely inhabited country. He displayed outstanding initiative, resourcefulness, and professional skill under the many trying conditions encountered, and by his tireless energy, sound judgment and personal courage rendered possible the successful completion of this flight. The information concerning the operation of military aircraft in Alaska, secured by Capitan McClellan while on his extensive air and ground reconnaissances, has proved of particular value to the Air Corps.