The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Mechanic William E. Sloan (ASN: 1449259), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company I, 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Varennes, France, 26 September 1918. Mechanic Sloan continued to advance with his platoon after having been severely wounded and personally guided a tank to an enemy machine-gun nest, whose location he had learned. In the course of this extraordinary duty he was killed.