Henry F. Martin

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Henry F. Martin, Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Bazoches, France, August 7 and 9, 1918. Early on the morning of August 7, 1918, being ordered to cross the Vesle River, Lieutenant Martin led his platoon under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire. Upon reaching the bank of the river he found no footbridge across the river. He leaped into the river, swam across it, stretched ropes, and improvised a pontoon structure. After reaching the north bank of the river he observed two men in danger of being carried away by the current, going to their aid and rescuing them while under heavy fire from the enemy. On August 9, 1918, when his company commander was wounded, he fearlessly placed himself at the head of the most exposed unit and led it forward in a determined attack on Bazoches.