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 First Lieutenant (Field Artillery) Thorndike Deland, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 340th Field Artillery, 89th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Marimbois Farm, France, 4 November 1918. Assisted by a soldier, First Lieutenant Deland went forward in advance of the infantry to lay telephone wires. Nearing Marimbois Farm, they found the place occupied by the enemy. Armed with hand grenades, he advanced on a dugout, where he routed out 17 of the enemy, bringing them back to our lines in the midst of a severe shell and machine-gun fire.