LT. ARTHUR G. ELDER, United States Navy, as CO. of a Navy search liberator attached to PatBomRon 117 during action against Japanese forces at Saigon Harbor, French Indochina on 25 March 1945, Lt. Elder showed extraordinary heroism. He flew in over the area in defiance of the terrific antiaircraft fire sent up from armed merchant vessels and warships in the harbor, and plunging relentlessly on his assigned target, dropped his bombs and made his straffing runs at a perilously low altitude. He destroyed three large merchant vessels and accounted for the infliction of damage on two destroyer escorts and 20 other merchant vessels. When he was jumped by an intercepting enemy aircraft during the engagement, he promptly maneuvered to strike, and with deadly accurate fire, he succeeded in blasting it from the sky in flames. By his superb airmanship, indomitable fighting spirit and dauntless perseverance in the face of tremendous odds, Lt. Elder contributed materially to the extension of costly damage to Japanese surface and air forces in this vital theater of war.