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 Captain (Infantry) George Stanley Butcher, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 111th Machine-Gun Battalion, 29th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Verdun, France, 27 October 1918. Hearing a call for help from a neighboring platoon of another company, whose men were all casualties, Captain Butcher quickly made his way there, manned the guns, and kept up a steady fire until he was himself killed by a shell. His action was purely voluntary; but, realizing the necessity of opening fire immediately, he disregarded his own safety in order to protect others, displaying the most heroic self-sacrifice.