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 Corporal Carl J. Lechner (ASN: 100182), 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, Corporal Lechner engaged in a hand-to-hand bayonet fight with one of the enemy who had penetrated our line and killed him. Although fatally wounded in this encounter, he propped himself up on the parapet and continued to fire his rifle at the enemy until they were repulsed. He later died as a result of wounds sustained in this action.