It was 1942 during the allied assault on French Morocco. Fireman 1st Class Paul Leaman Clark was a landing boat engineer attached to the USS Joseph T. Dickman supervising the unloading of soldiers and supplies from the transports on the beach. Early into the assault, Clark was unloading a transport when his boat was battered with machinegun fire; the bowman was mortally wounded and the coxswain was severely injured. Despite the perilous conditions, Clark took control of the boat and withdrew from the beach with the injured crewmember aboard.