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 Captain (Infantry) William R. McMorris, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company M, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, American Expeditionary Forces, in the Argonne Forest, France, 4 October 1918. Captain McMorris directed the advance of his company through an intense artillery barrage and against heavy machine-gun fire. When the battalion commander had been wounded he assumed command of the battalion and led it to its objective, after which he consolidated the new position. While personally resisting an enemy counterattack he was wounded.