returned with the last unit, assisting a wounded comrade. Later in the evening he volunteered and carried in wounded until he fainted from exhaustion. SKINKER, ALEXANDER R., Captain, 138th Infantry, 35th Division, St. Louis, Mo.-Cheppy, France, September 26, 1918. Unwilling to sacrifice his men when his company was held up by terrific machine-gun fire from iron pill boxes in the Hindenburg line, Captain Skinker personally led an automatic rifleman and a carrier in an attack on the machine guns. The carrier was killed instantly, but Captain Skinker seized the ammunition and continued through an opening in the barbed wire, feeding the automatic rifle until he, too, was killed. SLACK, CLAYTON K., Private, Company E, 124th Infantry, 31st Division, Lampson, Wis.-Consenvoye, France, October 8, 1918. Observing German soldiers under cover fifty yards away on the left flank, Private Slack, upon his own initiative, rushed them with his rifle and, single-handed, captured ten prisoners and two heavy-type machine guns, thus saving his company and neighboring organizations from heavy casualties. SMITH, FREDERICK E., Lieutenant-Colonel, 308th Infantry, 77th Division, Portland, Ore.-Binarville, France, September 28, 1918. When communication from the forward regimental post of command to the battalion leading the advance had been interrupted temporarily by the infiltration of small parties of the enemy armed with machine guns, LieutenantColonel Smith personally led a party of two other officers and ten soldiers, and went forward to re-establish runner posts and carry ammunition to the front line. The guide became confused and the party strayed to the left flank beyond the outposts of supporting troops, suddenly coming under fire from a group of enemy machine guns only fifty yards away. Shouting to the other members of his party to take cover, this officer, in disregard of his own danger, drew his pistol and opened fire on the German gun crew. About this time he fell, severely wounded in the side, but, regaining his footing, he continued to fire on the enemy until most of the men in his party were out of danger. Refusing first-aid treatment, he then made his way in plain view of the enemy to a hand-grenade dump and returned under continued heavy machine-gun fire for the purpose of making another attack on the enemy emplacements. As he was attempting to ascertain the exact location of the nearest nest, he again fell, mortally wounded. TALLEY, EDWARD R., Sergeant, Company L, 117th Infantry, 30th Division, Russellville, Tenn.-Ponchaux, France, October 7, 1918. Undeterred by seeing several comrades killed in attempting to put a hostile machine-gun nest out of action, Sergeant Talley attacked the position single-handed. Armed only with a rifle, he rushed the nest in the face of intense enemy fire, killed or wounded at least six of the crew, and silenced the gun. When the enemy attempted to bring forward another gun and ammunition, he drove them back by effective fire from his rifle. TURNER, HAROLD L., Corporal, Company F, 142d Infantry, 36th Division, Seminole, Okla.-St. Etienne, France, October 8, 1918. After his platoon had started the attack, Corporal Turner assisted in organizing a platoon consisting of the battalion scouts, runners, and a detachment of the Signal Corps. As second in command of this platoon, he fearlessly led them forward through heavy enemy fire, continually encouraging the men. Later he encountered deadly machinegun fire which reduced the strength of his command to but four men, and these were obliged to take shelter. The enemy machine-gun emplacement, twenty-five yards distant, kept up a continual fire from four machine guns. After the fire had shifted momentarily, Corporal Turner rushed forward with fixed bayonet and charged the position alone, capturing the strong point, with a complement of fifty Germans and four machine guns. His remarkable display of courage and fearlessness was instrumental in destroying the strong point, the fire from which had blocked the advance of his company. TURNER, WILLIAM S., First Lieutenant, 105th Infantry, 27th Division, Dorchester, Mass.-Ronssoy, France, September 27, 1918. He led a small group of men to the attack, under terrific artillery and machine-gun fire, after they had become separated from the rest of the company in the darkness. Single-handed he rushed an enemy machine gun, which had suddenly opened fire on his group, and killed the crew with his pistol. He then pressed forward to another machine-gun post twenty-five yards away and had killed one gunner himself by the time the remainder of his detachment arrived and put the gun out of action. With the utmost bravery he continued to lead his men over three lines of hostile trenches, cleaning up each one as they advanced, regardless of the fact that he had been wounded three times, and killed several of the enemy in hand-to-hand encounters. After his pistol ammunition was exhausted, this gallant officer seized the rifle of a dead soldier, bayoneted several members of a machine gun crew, and shot the others. Upon reaching the fourth line trench, which was his objective, Lieutenant Turner captured it with the nine men remaining in his group, and resisted a hostile counter-attack until he was finally surrounded and killed. VAN IERSAL, LOUIS, Sergeant, Company M, 9th Infantry, 2d Division, Newark, N. J.-Mouzon, France, November 9, 1918. While a member of the reconnoissance patrol sent out at night to ascertain the condition of a damaged bridge, Sergeant Van Iersal volunteered to lead a party across the bridge in the face of heavy machine-gun and rifle fire from a range of only seventy-five yards. Crawling alone along the debris of the ruined bridge, he came upon a trap, which gave away and precipitated him into the water. In spite of the swift current, he succeeded in swimming across the stream and found a lodging place among the timbers on the opposite bank. Disregarding the enemy fire, he made a careful investigation of the hostile position by which the bridge was defended and then returned to the other bank of the river, reporting this valuable information to the battalion commander. VILLEPIGUE, JOHN C., Corporal, Company M, 118th Infantry, 30th Division, Camden, S. C.-Vaux-Andigny, France, October 15, 1918. Having been sent out with two other soldiers to scout through the village of Vaux-Andigny, he met with strong resistance from enemy machine-gun fire, which killed one of his men and wounded the other. Continuing his advance without aid 500 yards in advance of his platoon and in the face of enemy machine-gun and artillery fire, he encountered four of the enemy in a dugout, whom he attacked and killed with a hand grenade. Crawling forward to a point 150 yards in advance of his first encounter, he rushed a machine-gun nest, killing four and capturing six of the enemy and taking two light machine guns. After being joined by his platoon he was severely wounded in the arm. WALKER, REIDER, Sergeant, Company A, 105th Infantry, 27th Division, Noretrand, Norway.-Ronssoy, France, September 27, 1918. In the face of heavy artillery and machinegun fire, he crawled forward in a burning British tank in which some of the crew were imprisoned, and succeeded in rescuing two men. Although the tank was then burning fiercely and contained ammunition which was likely to explode at any time, this soldier immediately returned to the tank and, entering it, made a search for the other occupants, remaining until he satisfied himself that there were no more living men in the tank. WARD, CALVIN, Private, Company D, 117th Infantry, 30th Division, Morristown, Tenn.-Estrées, France, October 8, 1918. During an advance Private Ward's company was held up by a machine gun, which was enfilading the line. Accompanied by a noncommissioned officer, he advanced against this post and succeeded in reducing the nest by killing three and capturing seven of the enemy and their guns. WEST, CHESTER H., First Sergeant, Company D, 363d Infantry, 91st Division, Idaho Falls, Idaho-Bois de Cheppy, France, September 26, 1918. While making his way through a thick fog with his automatic rifle section, his advance was halted by direct and unusual machine-gun fire from two guns. Without aid, he at once dashed through the fire and, attacking the nest, killed two of the gunners, one of whom was an officer. This prompt and decisive hand-to-hand encounter on his part enabled his company to advance further without the loss of a man. WHITTLESEY, CHARLES W., Lieutenant-Colonel, 308th Infantry, 77th Division, Pittsfield, Mass.-Binarville, in the Forest d'Argonne, France, October 2-7, 1918. Although cut off for five days from the remainder of his division, Major |
