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 Captain (Infantry) Joseph Purnell Cromwell, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Cunel, France, 14 October 1918. When the assault battalion of his regiment had been held up by terrific hostile artillery and machine-gun fire, upon learning of the loss of all the company commanders, Captain Cromwell voluntarily left the supporting battalion and went forward through an almost overwhelming enemy fire to the advance position of the assault battalion, where, although wounded in the arm, he assisted the battalion commander in leading the men from a very disadvantageous position to the capture of a near-by hill held by the enemy, and later in the hostile counterattack assisted in the defense of the position.