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 Second Lieutenant (Infantry) John Edward Mitchell, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 23d Infantry Regiment, 2d Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near St. Etienne-a-Arnes, France, 3 October 1918. Displaying utter disregard for his personal safety, Lieutenant Mitchell led his platoon through an extremely heavy machine-gun and artillery barrage, and destroyed several enemy machine-gun nests. He was later killed while making a reconnaissance.