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 First Lieutenant (Corps of Engineers) Ray Neal Benjamin, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 2d Engineers, 2d Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Blanc Mont, France, 6 October 1918. While commanding a detachment of wire cutters working in advance of the Infantry, Lieutenant Benjamin was painfully wounded by a shell fragment, but he refused to leave his men until his mission was accomplished and the advance of the Infantry assured.