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 Private Joseph T. Atkinson (ASN: 1537922), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company B, 112th Engineers, 37th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Heuvel, Belgium, 2 November 1918. Private Atkinson, with two other soldiers, crossed the Scheldt River, after two attempts, and succeeded in stretching a line for a bridge across the stream. They were discovered and fired upon by the enemy, but they continued at work driving stakes, and made a second trip across the river to obtain wire, despite the fact that a violent artillery barrage had been laid down on their position.