Navy Federal Credit Union

Awards Received

  • Distinguished Service Cross

    Service:

    United States Army

    Rank:

    Captain (Medical Corps), [then First Lieutenant]

    Batallion:

    110th Sanitary Train

    Division:

    35th Division, American Expeditionary Forces

    Action Date:

    October 1, 1918

    War Department, General Orders 70 (1919)

    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 (Medical Corps), [then First Lieutenant] Bret Verne Bates, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 139th Ambulance Company, 110th Sanitary Train, 35th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Chaudron Farm, France, 1 October 1918. When the Sanitary detachment, with which he was working, was ordered to fall back under intense artillery and machine-gun fire, Captain Bates, upon his own volition and contrary to the advice of others, refused to leave the wounded men, who had not been evacuated, but remained with them throughout the day, ministering to them under the most violent fire, in utter disregard for his own safety. When night came, he secured litter bearers and succeeded in taking all the wounded to safety.