Ferre C. Watkins

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Ferre C. Watkins, First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Pouilly, France, November 4, 1918. Lieutenant Watkins, after having voluntarily performed similar missions of night patrol on the three preceding nights, displayed exceptional courage and initiative when he again voluntarily led a patrol whose mission it was to penetrate the enemy lines, force its way to the Meuse River and report upon the condition of the bridge at Pouilly, France. While penetrating the line of the enemy outposts, they were subjected to heavy enemy fire, at which time nearly half of the patrol was killed or wounded. Lieutenant Watkins, before returning to his post, recovered all of the wounded and obtained information vital to the plans of the division.

Decorations U.S. Army, Supplement II, 1939