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 Captain (Infantry) Herbert Spencer Hilburn, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Villers-devant-Dun, France, 2 November 1918. Under heavy machine-gun fire, Captain Hilburn repeatedly went to the rear of his company to rally and reorganize it, and then rushed forward to lead his men on. Having taken the town of Villers-devant-Dun and the crest beyond, he held it with only 16 men until the next morning against superior numbers of the enemy.