The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Sergeant Louis Christian Thedinger (ASN: 1490035), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company E, 142d Infantry Regiment, 36th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near St. Etienne, France, 8 October 1918. When his company had been stopped by heavy enemy machine-gun fire, Sergeant Thedinger left shelter for the purpose of interviewing two German prisoners. Learning from them the location and strength of the enemy’s position, he obtained permission to attack it, and, with a party of ten volunteers, went forward in the face of heavy machine-gun fire, flanking the machine-gun nest and capturing four prisoners and three machine guns.