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 First Lieutenant (Medical Corps) William Ross Arrants, United States Army, for repeated acts of extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 317th Infantry Regiment (Attached), 80th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, in the Bois De La Cote Lemont, France, 28 September 1918, and near Nantillois, France, 5 October 1918. Lieutenant Arrants, with his battalion aid unit, accompanied his battalion into action in the Bois De La Cote Lemont and promptly opened his aid station within 100 yards of the front line, where he worked all night under continuous fire, giving aid to the wounded. When there was a shortage of stretcher bearers he assisted in bringing in the wounded. Under intense fire he undertook to locate the ambulance dressing station and personally directed the evacuation of wounded to it. In the attack from the Bois De Fay, 5 October he again went with the attacking troops and opened a first-aid station in an old cellar with no cover. Under an intense barrage of shrapnel and high-explosive shells he performed the most devoted service in attending the wounded, working continuously for nine hours until after his unit had been ordered to retire.