William Penn Lewis, Jr.

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to William Penn Lewis, Jr., First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Verdun, France, October 16, 1918. Lieutenant Lewis, although ill at the time, led his platoon in an attack in the Bois-de-Grande Montagne against numerous enemy machine-gun nests and quickly dispatched the enemy troops therein. Finally he advanced alone and captured an enemy sniper from a tree and brought him into our lines. He remained with his company until October 18, when he collapsed with shell shock and exhaustion.