Walter O. L. Peterson

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Walter O. L. Peterson, First Sergeant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Romagne, France, October 5, 1918. Because of casualties among officers, Sergeant Peterson was placed in command of the second wave, which he led with exceptional bravery and leadership. When it became isolated in a fog, he crawled forward by himself to ascertain the character of troops which were seen one kilometer to the front, and upon finding that they were hostile, immediately established liaison with adjacent units and straightened out his line after breaking up several enemy machine-gun nests.