Orville Alfred Ralston

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Orville Alfred Ralston, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action over Bourion Wood, September 26, 1918. Having engine trouble, Lieutenant Ralston signaled his flight commander, left his formation, and started for the lines. Shortly afterwards his engine picked up and he decided to rejoin his formation. He found three of them engaged with seven Fokker biplanes over Bourion Wood. Seeing that one of our machines was hard pressed and in distress, Lieutenant Ralston instantly went to its assistance and drove one Fokker down into the clouds below. He followed directly behind the enemy machine and, as they came out of the clouds at a height of 3,000 feet, opened fire again on this Fokker at 15 yards range. The enemy machine made one complete spiral and crashed northeast of Bourion Wood. Four more Fokkers now attacked Lieutenant Ralston, but he managed to get back in the clouds and return safely to our lines, as did the rest of his flight.