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 Ernest Linwood Hitchens (ASN: 1781220), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company K, 313th Infantry Regiment, 79th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Crepion, France, November 7 – 8, 1918. While his battalion was conducting a relief, Sergeant Kitchens and four members of his platoon were wounded by shell fire. After he had taken the four wounded comrades to a first-aid station, he immediately returned without treatment to himself, despite his severe suffering from, three body wounds, and remained with his platoon until the completion of the relief.