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SECTION IVTO BE USED FOR ALL RECOMMEndATIONSNARRATIVE DESCRIPTION OF DEED (OR ACT) ACHIEVEMEN IN PERFORMANCE SERVICE RENDERED)AWARD FOR HEROIC ACTION: WAS ACT VOLUNTARY? DESCRIBE WHY ACT WAS OUTSTANDING AND IF IT WAS MORE THAN NORMALLY-EXPECTED. IN AERIAL FLIGHT, DESCRIBE TYPE AND POSITION OF AIRPLANE, CREW POSITION OF INDIVIDUAL AND ALL UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES. INDICATE RESULTS OF ACT.AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT OR SERVICE: TITLE AND DUTIES OF ASSIGNMENT, INCLUDING CHARACTER OF SERVICE DURING PERIOD FOR WHICH RECOMMENDED GIVE COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF TECHNICAL OR SPECIALIZED POSITIONS, INCLUDING DATES OF ASSIGNMENT AND RELIEF. WHAT DID THE INDIVIDUAL DO THAT MERITS THE AWARD? WHY WAS THIS OUTSTANDING-WHEN-COMPARED TO-OTHERS OF THAT GRADE AND EXPERIENCE IN SIMILAR POSITIONS? INDICATE RESULTS OF ACHIEVEMENT OR SERVICE.Reference is made to the attached memorandum dated 1 November 1958, which is the summary excerpted from the report of the operation submitted on that date.Upon receipt of information, 2 July 1958, that a member of the Soviet Foreign Office in Moscow had mentioned to one of the American Embassy staff members that the Soviets had knowledge of the crew of the missing C-118, Mr. McCord was appointed head of a team of men from Headquarters to proceed immediately to Germany to plan for and debrief the crew of the C-118 in case they were released.At Wiesbaden, acting upon policy guidance received from Headquarters, Mr. McCord made detailed plans for the interrogation of crew members; prepared news releases and made plans for the handling of the press; arranged for reunion of the crew members with their families; and arranged medical examinations, all with the view toward avoiding publicity or incidents which might reveal Central Intelligence Agency interest in the highly sensitive nature of the plane's flight.When the crew arrived at Wiesbaden, Mr. McCord directed the over-all interrogations and participated in portions of the interrogation of the crew members himself. He prepared cables and dispatches for Headquarters as well as the over-all report of the debriefing of the crew. He briefed the crew members regarding their conduct before the press. He also assisted in the plans for the return of the crew members to Washington, all of which entailed around-the-clock work.Upon return to Washington, Mr. McCord directed the detailed debriefing of the crew, covering all aspects of possible compromise of security of CIA personnel, operations, and cover unit activities, as well as various positive intelligence and counter-intelligence matters. Final reports were prepared and Mr. McCord participated in briefings of the DCI, DDCI, and various Air Force and Defense Department officials.The ingenuity, foresight, planning and guidance exercised by Mr. McCord from the time the team first left for Europe, through the initial debriefing, and then in following through in the debriefings back at Headquarters, resulted in rapid and thorough interview of the crew members, assessment of the compromise to the Agency, and determination of appropriate action needed by the Agency to counter such compromise. His performance in that instance was of the highest degree and did much credit to this Agency in the highly professional manner in which it was performed.RELATED POSITION OF PERSON INITIATING RECOMMENDATION TO PERSON BEING RECOMMENDEDHead of OfficeNAME, POSITION TITLE, AND GRADE OF PERSON MAKING RECOMMENDATIONSheffield EdwardsDirector of Security OS-18Summary memorandum excerpt from report dated 1 November 195815 December 1958