COMMANDER CHARLES WILLIAM DEMOSS, (then Lieutenant) United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism as Pilot of a Fighter-Bomber Plane in Fighting Squadron EIGHTEEN, attached to the U.S.S. INTREPID, in action against major units of the Japanese Fleet during the Battle for Leyte Gulf on October 24, 1944. Diving from high level through a terrific curtain of antiaircraft fire, Lieutenant DeMoss scored a 500-pound bomb hit on the fantail of a radically maneuvering Kongo Class battleship, damaging the superstructure, crippling the rudder and propellers, and forcing the ship to withdraw from the battle. His outstanding courage and determination in the face of great danger were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

CMDR DeMoss resides in California.