After almost killing his crew, he gets a medal, what the Army calls the Soldier’s medal.
I think most people are not clear which medal he won, his powerful dad tried to get him a Medal of Honor, after all LBJ got a Silver Star.
I think it's in Robert Caro's first LBJ volume that MacArthur had sized up LBJ (being the only congresscritter not to resign his seat when enlisting) on his first meeting, and decided that LBJ was going to be rising in the political strata, so for going on one bombing mission as an observer, MacArthur decided to plant a seed of military goodwill with the cutthroat pol, and arranged for the medal, which ribbon LBJ almost always wore on his suit in civilian life.
Until the day he was awarded his medal, Kennedy lived in Fear of a court martial.