Joseph Larra

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Joseph Larra, Second Lieutenant, French Army, for extraordinary heroism in action at Cheppy, France, September 26, 1918. Lieutenant Larra was acting as liaison officer between French tanks and American infantry, when the latter met with severe artillery and machine-gun fire from strong enemy positions. Passing through a heavy artillery barrage, he led two small tanks into action in an effort to overcome the enemy’s resistance, and personally charged a machine-gun nest with his pistol, killing one of the gunners and capturing the other two. The two small tanks proving to be inadequate, this officer went back through the barrage and brought up eight large tanks, leading them on foot in the open under intense shell fire and direct machine-gun fire. He maneuvered these tanks so skillfully that the subsequent capture of the stronghold of Cheppy by the infantry was made possible.