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 (Medical Corps) Louis Diener, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Sanitary Detachment, 112th Machine-Gun Battalion (Attached), 29th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, in the Ravine de la Veux Michieux, France, October 26 – 27, 1918. Upon being notified that an enemy shell had struck a dugout occupied by the brigade radio detachment, Captain Diener ran to the aid of the buried men and worked tirelessly to rescue them. Despite the fact that numerous gas and high explosive shells were falling in the vicinity, he continued his efforts until he was certain that the three men remaining in the ruined dugout were dead.