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 Second Lieutenant (Infantry) Mathew E. Conklin, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 310th Infantry Regiment, 78th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near St. Juvin, France, 16 October 1918. Lieutenant Conklin was wounded while leading his company in advance, but continued to lead his men across an open area under a heavy machine-gun and artillery fire, wading the Agran River, and took his position on a hillside where he directed the digging in of his company, before he would be evacuated.