William C. Taylor

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to William C. Taylor, Sergeant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action in the Butry Woods, France, October 9, 1918. Upon learning that an advanced platoon was under heavy enemy machine-gun fire from the front and flanks, Sergeant Taylor, on his own initiative, took a squad of men and an automatic rifle and went to the assistance of the platoon. Despite the heavy fire, he succeeded in compelling the enemy to withdraw from their positions and thereby enabled the battalion to resume its advance. He was later wounded in the leg and arms in attempting to bring up reinforcements across an open space swept by machine-gun fire.