Walter C. Carlson

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Walter C. Carlson, Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Geneve, France, October 9, 1918. Remaining on duty after being wounded in the shoulder by a shell fragment, Lieutenant Carlson aided the advance of his battalion by leading his platoon in flanking attacks on machine-gun nests. He advanced with his men for 400 yards across a field heavily swept by machine-gun fire to a railroad embankment and held the position for more than an hour; reinforcements were prevented from reaching him by the intense fire. By his courage and determination in maintaining this position he protected the flank of his battalion and made possible its further advance. On October 17, near La Selle River, this officer was knocked down and wounded by a bursting shell; when he recovered he moved forward with his platoon until weakness compelled his evacuation.