Theodore Vernon Nelson

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Theodore Vernon Nelson, Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action at Bois-de-Chaume, near Consenvoye, France, October 9, 1918. When the right platoon of his company was held up by machine-gun fire, Lieutenant Nelson, alone and in the face of direct fire, attacked the guncrew, killing the gunner and capturing two prisoners. After reaching his objective he was wounded but refused to be evacuated and continued to direct the operations of his company. When an enemy counterattack forced a withdrawal of his company, he ordered the men who were assisting him to the rear to leave him. He later died of his wounds.