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 (Infantry) John Stone Loomis, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 132d Machine-Gun Battalion, 36th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near St. Etienne, France, 10 October 1918. During an attack to straighten the front of the 71st Brigade, Lieutenant Loomis, in command of a machine-gun platoon, upon arriving at the objective, discovered that all of the infantry officers in the vicinity had fallen, thus leaving their troops in confusion. Although under a heavy barrage of high explosive and gas shells, machine-gun and rifle fire, Lieutenant Loomis removed his gas mask in order that his voice might carry, and, with great coolness, reorganized the infantry forces, thus enabling them to hold the ground they had gained. Lieutenant Loomis remained in command until he was so severely gassed that he had to be carried from the field.