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 Major (Infantry) Rice McNutt Youell, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Verdun, France, October 1 – 12, 1918. Taking command of his battalion after the battalion commander had been mortally wounded, he led it with remarkable bravery throughout nine days of the hardest fighting, though he was himself painfully wounded on the first day, when he led his command in storming the heights beyond the Rau de Gauffre. On 10 October when the enemy’s resistance had been broken and a rapid thrust into the disorganized defenses was necessary in order to enable a unit on the right to advance, Major Youell, with one company and no artillery support pushed forward two kilometers under heavy fire, driving back a force of enemy infantry superior in number to his own, and capturing important artillery positions on Hill 263.