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 Sergeant First Class William Burdett Beach (ASN: 568500), United States Army, for repeated acts of extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company C, 4th Engineers, 4th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near St. Thibault, France, 6 and 8 August 1918. Being a member of a covering detachment sent out to protect a detail which was constructing a bridge over the Vesle River, Sergeant Beach voluntarily left his squad and fought his way alone down the river, in order to locate an enemy machine-gun nest. The flashes from his automatic rifle drew fire from the enemy, and he was forced to jump into the river for protection. Swimming back to his squad, he organized a detail and led it in a successful attack on the hostile position. Two nights later, after this bridge had been destroyed, this soldier, with three others, volunteered to rebuild the bridge. Under continuous fire from the enemy, he swam the river several times, and set the posts for the bridge, thereby making possible the infantry attack on the following morning.