Kurt H. A. Koehler

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Kurt H. A. Koehler, Private, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Verdun, France, October 9, 1918. Operating without assistance a machine gun which he secured by crawling out ahead of our lines, Private Koehler successfully resisted a greatly superior force of the enemy, killing several and causing the rest to retreat. When wounds in the shoulder made it impossible for him to further operate the gun he rendered it unserviceable with a pick handle before retiring and reporting to his company commander.