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 Corporal Earnest A. Carlson (ASN: 113300), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company C, 9th Field Signal Battalion, 5th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, in the Bois-de-Rappes, France, 22 October 1918. Although he was almost exhausted from gas and fatigue, Corporal Carlson remained on duty throughout the day and night, laying telephone lines from the regimental relay station to the front lines through heavy barrage fire from artillery and machine guns.