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 Second Lieutenant (Infantry) Chester H. Elmes, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 114th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Verdun, France, 12 October 1918. Though suffering from a painful wound in the head and ordered to the rear, Lieutenant Elmes reluctantly left his platoon and in spite of weakness carried a wounded soldier under heavy shell fire to a dressing station 500 yards away.