Frank L. Williams

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Frank L. Williams, First Lieutenant (Medical Corps), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action in Champagne, east of Reims, France, July 15, 1918, and. near the River Ourcq, northeast of Chateau-Thierry, France, July 30, 1918. First Lieutenant Williams voluntarily left a dugout on the Champagne front, and for more than two hours, all the time under shell fire, administered to the needs of wounded men who were lying in the open. During the advance across the River Ourcq he voluntarily remained in exposed positions under heavy shell fire, caring for and dressing the wounded until he was severely injured.

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Frank L. Williams, First Lieutenant (Medical Corps), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Chateau-Thierry, France, July 29, 1918. Lieutenant Williams went forward with his battalion and cared for the wounded under difficult circumstances. He was without shelter, food, and sleep for practically three days. The area over which he worked was constantly swept with artillery and machine-gun fire and was drenched with poisonous gas. He was always close behind his battalion with his aid post, the selection of its location being at all times for the benefit of the wounded and not as a matter of personal safety. Much of his work was at night, where enemy observation and absence of suitable cover made it impossible to use lights of any kind, but taxing himself to his fullest powers of strength, endurance, and skill he dressed the wounded in darkness by sense of touch alone. Although given permission and advised to withdraw farther to the rear and to a less exposed position, he expressed his desire to remain in the forward lines in order to give his services as soon as possible to the wounded men.