John B. Richardson

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to John B. Richardson, Major, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Ville-Savoye, France, August 21, 1918. When the advance on the Tannerio by a company of the 308th Infantry was being held up by a heavy hostile fire, Major Richardson, then commanding the 306th Machine Gun Battalion, which had a platoon of machine guns supporting the attack, seeing that the attacking troops were wavering on account of an inexperienced leader and under a heavy hostile fire, with great gallantry and the utmost disregard of personal danger, took command of the company and led it through heavy artillery and machine-gun fire to its objective, which was captured and later consolidated by a skillful disposition of machine guns under his direction.