William R. Arrants

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to William R. Arrants, First Lieutenant (Medical Corps), U.S. Army, for repeated acts of extraordinary heroism in action in the Bois De La Cote Lemont, France, September 28, 1918, and near Nantillois, France, October 5, 1918. Lieutenant Arrants, with his battalion aid unit, accompanied his battalion into action in the Bois De La Cote Lemont and promptly opened his aid station within 100 yards of the front line, where he worked all night under continuous fire, giving aid to the wounded. When there was a shortage of stretcher bearers he assisted in bringing in the wounded. Under intense fire he undertook to locate the ambulance dressing station and personally directed the evacuation of wounded to it. In the attack from the Bois De Fay, October 5, he again went with the attacking troops and opened a first-aid station in an old cellar with no cover. Under an intense barrage of shrapnel and high-explosive shells he performed the most devoted service in attending the wounded, working continuously for nine hours until after his unit had been ordered to retire.