Howard M. Wight

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Howard M. Wight, Private, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Gesnes, France, September 28, 1918. When his battalion withdrew after attacking a hostile position under heavy fire, Private Wight, instead of falling back, organized a party and, in the face of intense machine-gun fire, rescued 15 wounded soldiers who would otherwise have fallen into the hands of the enemy. He placed the wounded men in a gravel pit and remained the entire night, administering first aid, despite the fact that he himself was nearly exhausted after three days of fighting.