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), [then First Lieutenant] William Mack, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 305th Infantry Regiment, 77th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, on the Vesle River, near Bazoches, France, 2 September 1918. Captain Mack volunteered to leave St. Thibault in broad daylight with another officer and a patrol of ten men to reconnoiter the enemy’s lines. Upon reaching the Vesle River, Captain Mack swam across it and arranged a rope by means of which the remainder of the patrol crossed the stream. He divided the patrol and, taking five men with him, advanced on the village of Bazoches, which was occupied by the enemy. He attacked enemy hiding places in an old house in which he encountered four Germans. Although under machine-gun fire, he gained valuable information, having actually penetrated the enemy’s advanced posts, and with great skill withdrew his patrol. Captain Mack and four of his men were wounded, two mortally.