Lieutenant
ROBERT FLYN ADAIR
U.S. Naval Reserve
Pilot
Composite Squadron VC-20
NAVY CROSS
THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
Washington
The President of the United States takes pride in
Presenting the NAVY CROSS to
ROBERT FLYN ADAIR, LIEUTENANT
UNITED STATES NAVAL RESERVE
for service as set forth in the following
CITATION:
"For extraordinary heroism in action on October 25, 1944, while serving as a pilot embarked off the Kadashan Bay and deployed over Samar during the Battle for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. Lieutenant Robert Adair, division leader of one of the torpedo plane divisions, was ordered to attack the battleship second in line of the three battleships which were leading the enemy van, and closing on the escort carrier group. After making an effort to coordinate his torpedo attack with strafing and bombing attacks with the other planes, and being unable to arrange for this, despite the intense anti-aircraft fire, which was directed at him and his wingman, Ensign Warren Druck, he and Druck made an unsupported attack on the battleship, which resulted in one torpedo hit on the port side, damaging the ship severely and causing it to turn away from the escort carrier group. In pulling out after the attack it was necessary for him to fly over the third battleship in the formation, and only by the most violent evasive maneuver was he able to avoid being shot down by the fire from the ship. His courage, aggressiveness, and cool disregard for danger were at all times in keeping with the highest traditions of the Navy of the United States."
For the President,
/s/ James Forrestal
Secretary of the Navy