Richard W. Austermann

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Richard W Austermann, Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Fismes, France, August 8, 1918. Lieutenant Austermann collected several groups of disorganized men from different companies, organized a patrol, and, advancing across a creek, so deployed his men as to pour a crossfire on enemy machine-gun nests. Observing other nests then out of range, he led a volunteer squad and cleaned out three more machine-gun nests. Lieutenant Austermann continued with the squad and put out of action three more nests.