Navy Federal Credit Union

Awards Received

  • Distinguished Service Cross

    Service:

    United States Army

    Rank:

    Private

    Regiment:

    107th Field Artillery Regiment

    Division:

    28th Division, American Expeditionary Forces

    Action Date:

    August 20, 1918

    War Department, General Orders No. 16 (1929)

    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 Private James Leo McInerney (ASN: 1251193), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Battery F, 107th Field Artillery, 28th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, at Fismette, France, 20 August 1918. When the battery to which Private McInerney belonged was changing position at midnight, the detail carrying the supplied was struck by a salvo from an enemy artillery barrage, killing two and wounding several men of the detail. When volunteers were called for by the commanding officer to remove the dead and wounded, Private McInerney was one of the first to volunteer. Private McInerney secured a team and wagon and placed it in a sheltered position. He then made three successive trips across an enemy shell-swept area of three or four hundred yards, each time carrying one of the seriously wounded men to the wagon. On the fourth trip he led five of the less seriously wounded to the sheltered position. After placing the eight men in his wagon he drove with them to the field hospital and later to the hospital at Cohen.