Robert C. Paradise

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Robert C. Paradise, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action in the vicinity of Boureuilles, France, September 26, 1918. As pilot, 12th Squadron, Lieutenant Paradise was assigned the duty of locating the American front lines during the first two hours of the Argonne offensive. Unable to locate the line at the usual altitude maintained at such a time, he flew down to the dangerous altitude of 50 meters, secured the important information sought and discovered our lines held up by a strongly held nest of enemy machine guns. Noting the exact location of the nest upon his map he flew back to division headquarters and reported the exact location of our liens, as well as that of the enemy machine-gun nest. With his plane riddled by enemy bullets, one control shot away, he returned to the lines, discovered the enemy nests had not been destroyed and that they were inflicting heavy casualties upon our troops. In the face of concentrated enemy fire and attacked by four enemy planes, he went down, his plane barely skimming the tree tops, and deliberately fired over 400 rounds into the enemy nests, thus causing the enemy gunners to abandon their guns and positions and enabling the troops of his division to resume their advance. Again gaining altitude he discovered and destroyed by his fire an enemy signal station, signaling unmolested, 2 kilometers north of the lines. This act was performed at an altitude of 50 meters amid a storm of protection fire from enemy antiaircraft guns.