The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Private Earl Steward King (ASN: 100270), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company B, 168th Infantry Regiment, 42d Division, American Expeditionary Forces, at Badonvilliers, France, 29 May 1918. During a raid on our trenches by a superior enemy force Private King, while rushing to the assistance of his commanding officer, engaged two of the enemy in a hand-to-hand bayonet fight and, although fatally wounded in this encounter, he succeeded in killing one of his opponents and prevented the attack on the flank from penetrating into our lines.