The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal in lieu of the Certificate of Merit previously issued to Sergeant Charles Venus, United States Army, for extraordinary courage while serving as a member of Company I, 23d Infantry Regiment, in swimming and wading to shore from a capsized boat and guiding a rescue boat to the relief of three comrades whom had had left on the upturned hull in Galveston Bay, Texas, on 29 June 1914.