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 Second Lieutenant (Infantry) Richard Wagner Austermann, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Fismes, France, 8 August 1918. Lieutenant Austermann collected several groups of disorganized men from different companies, organized a patrol, and, advancing across a creek, so deployed his men as to pour a cross fire on enemy machine-gun nests. Observing other nests then out of range, he led a volunteer squad and cleaned out three more machine-gun nests. Lieutenant Austermann continued with the squad and put out of action three more nests.