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) George Matthews, Jr., United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 105th Machine-Gun Battalion, 27th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Arbre Guernon, France, 18 October 1918. After having been wounded in the head and suffering great pain, Lieutenant Matthews coolly and efficiently made dispositions for the security of his guns and safety of his men and the evacuation of the wounded. Later at a dressing station, though bleeding profusely, he refused surgical attention until other wounded men of his platoon had been cared for.