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 John R. Bauerfeind (ASN: 1812747), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company B, 310th Machine-Gun Battalion, 79th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Verdun, France, 5 November 1918. With two other soldiers Private Bauerfeind voluntarily left a place of safety, went forward 40 meters under machine-gun fire in plain view of the enemy, and rescued another soldier, who had been blinded by a machine-gun bullet and was helplessly staggering about.