(Citation Needed) – SYNOPSIS: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Soldier’s Medal to Captain (Infantry) Hal Fitzgerald Crain (ASN: 0-13284), United States Army, for heroism at the risk of life not involving conflict with an armed enemy as Commanding Officer, Company F, 2d Battalion, 262d Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division, following the sinking of the LEOPOLDVILLE on 24 December 1944. Captain Crain knelt at the top of a ladder, pulling soldiers up onto the deck. As he did so, he asked each man if he had seen anyone from Company F. When no more soldiers emerged, Captain Crain headed down the ladder without any hesitation to the compartments below in search of his men, probing Compartment E-4 without success. Struggling against the oily water in the deep darkness of the demolished blocks, Captain Crain saved man after man, plunging into the flooded compartments. He was later observed on a ladder, this time with water up to his chest and with waves breaking over his head. Captain Crain gave his own life jacket to another and saved many men from the sinking ship from death, and in so doing, lost his own life.