William W. Waring

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to William W. Waring, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Dun-sur-Meuse, France, September 26, 1918. Deeming it impossible to catch their own formation, Lieutenant Waring, with Lieutenant Sigbert Norris, observer, attached themselves to a formation from the 20th Squadron and engaged in a 35-minute fight with 30 enemy aircraft. Five of this squadron were lost and the observer of one of the three remaining planes seriously wounded. The wounded man had fallen in a position which made the control of the machine difficult. Lieutenant Waring immediately placed his machine between the enemy formation and the crippled companion in order to protect it, and continued to fly in this place until our lines were crossed and the enemy scouts driven off.