The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Second Lieutenant (Infantry) James Beverly Burks, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company D, 113th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, at Etraye Ridge, France, 23 October 1918. Having gone out from his position under heavy machine-gun fire in an effort to establish liaison with the unit on his right, Lieutenant Burks encountered an enemy patrol. In the combat which followed, he was killed, after he had killed several of his adversaries.