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) Earl M. McKinley, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 11th Machine-Gun Battalion, 4th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Nantillois, France, 26 September 1918. Lieutenant McKinley, with another officer, and a soldier, using captured German Maxim guns, pushed forward to a heavily shelled area from which other troops had withdrawn, and by their accurate and effective fire kept groups of the enemy from occupying advantageous positions, maintaining fire superiority all afternoon. Lieutenant McKinley withdrew from his dangerous position when it became too dark to see.