The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal in lieu of the Certificate of Merit previously issued to Private Arthur T. Priestly, United States Army, for distinguished courage while serving as a member of Company K, 26th Infantry Regiment, exhibited by him in going, at the peril of his life, to the rescue of comrades and natives who had been upset in the Pambujan River Island of Samar, Philippine Islands, on 21 January, 1902, and were in imminent danger of death from drowning.