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 Private First Class Joe Collette (ASN: 1422945), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company L, 166th Infantry Regiment, 42d Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Sedan, France, 7 November 1918. After his company had taken up a position and were waiting for orders, Private Collette, in the absence of the company’s runners, volunteered and carried all messages to and from the battalion post of command some 800 yards distant. His route lay over a steep hillside subjected to a heavy concentration of artillery machine-gun and sniper fire. He continued to carry messages after learning that the enemy had the exact range of the post of command and a shell struck the building, killing several of the men. Having had nothing to eat for 36 hours, he finally fell, completely exhausted.