Frank Helon Presley

During World War II Frank Presley became an Marine Corps ACE and was credited with destroying FIVE enemy aircraft in aerial combat. He subsequently flew combat in the Korean War. On September 21, 1954, while still on active duty, Frank Presley fell overboard and drowned while embarked upon the light aircraft carrier U.S.S. Saipan (CVL-48) in the Atlantic Ocean.

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to First Lieutenant Frank Helen Presley (MCSN: 0-10906), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession while serving as a Pilot in Marine Fighting Squadron ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE (VMF-121), Marine Air Group FOURTEEN (MAG-14), FIRST Marine Aircraft Wing, in aerial combat against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands Area during the periods 9 October 1942 to 23 November 1942, and from 1 to 30 January 1943. During an extremely tense and dangerous period when our positions on Guadalcanal Island were ominously threatened, First Lieutenant Presley, while serving a six weeks' tour of duty, participated in numerous engagements with hostile forces and, by his expert marksmanship, shot down three enemy planes. In the latter period, despite the dangers involved in combat with numerically superior forces, he skillfully operated his fighter on offensive patrols and accounted for the destruction of two hostile craft. On one occasion, when ten dive bombers and twelve Zero-type fighters attacked Task Force Sixty-Seven, for which his four-lane patrol was serving as protective cover, First Lieutenant Presley displayed superb airmanship in shooting one bomber out of the sky and contributing to the severe losses inflicted on the enemy. His relentless fighting spirit was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.