The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander James Carroll Byrnes, Jr., United States Navy, for distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. SMITH, operating in the War Zone and protecting vitally important convoys of troops and cargo vessels through the area of submarine activity and in rescuing the crews of the torpedoed ships S.S. COVINGTON, 1 July 1918 and U.S.S. WESTBRIDGE 15 August 1918.