Calvin D. Richards

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Calvin D. Richards, Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Verdun, France, October 9, 1918. While defending a hill, Lieutenant Richards, with seven machine-gunners, beat off an enemy attack of greatly superior numbers, after a hand-to-hand encounter with pistols and grenades. Although his small force suffered four casualties, he still continued to defend the hill, an important tactical point for his division.