Herbert Wallace Dutton

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Herbert Wallace Dutton, First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Fismette, France, September 5, 1918. When his battalion commander was wounded during the crossing of the Vesle River, Lieutenant Dutton assumed command, rallied the scattered men, and reorganized them into fighting units, inspiring them by his own brave and determined spirit. His judgment in selecting strong points and making his dispositions made possible the success of the operation. In the course of the action Lieutenant Dutton encountered a hostile machine-gun nest, killing the officer in command of it with a rifle, and capturing 14 prisoners. He then turned the captured gun on the enemy and expended 4,000 rounds of captured ammunition in covering an exposed flank.