AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  -
MODEL:  -

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Kenneth C. Kramer for heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight as Pilot of a Jet Fighter Plane attached to Fighter Squadron Fifty One, based on board the U.S.S. Valley Forge, during operations against enemy aggressor forces in Korea on 3 May 1953. Although encountering intense hostile machine-gun and small-arms fire while he was leading his section of jet fighters on a strike against an enemy troop billeting and vehicle staging area, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Kramer scored a direct hit on a concentrated group of buildings which exploded and sprayed flaming fuel over an area where two thousand hostile troops were believed to be billeted. Continuing the attack, he led his section in eight effective bombing and low-level strafing runs on the gasoline storage area and personally caused two more secondary explosions while his flight obtained three in the same vicinity leveling a large area and leaving raging fires. During these attacks, more than seventy-five buildings were destroyed and eighteen damaged. By his superb airmanship, courage and inspiring leadership, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Kramer contributed immeasurably to the success of the assigned mission and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.