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 Corporal James Manning (ASN: 568528), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company C, 4th Engineers, 4th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near St. Thibault, France, 8 August 1918. Corporal Manning was one of our men who volunteered and swam the Vesle River for the purpose of doing work on the opposite bank necessary in the construction of a footbridge. With another soldier he succeeded in felling a large tree in the face of heavy machine-gun and one-pounder fire after the remainder of the platoon had withdrawn.