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 Sergeant Harley N. Nichols (ASN: 241533), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company C, 345th Tank Battalion, Tank Corps, American Expeditionary Forces, near Charpentry, France, 4 October 1918. While making an attack with four other tanks Sergeant Nichols’ tank was struck by an enemy shell, which put it out of action. He continued to fire on a machine-gun nest until it was apparently destroyed, when he with his driver dismounted, and started to the nest, but they were fired on by the German gunners. They killed the two gunners and disabled the guns, and then drove the gunners from another gun. Under the protection of another tank they started to our own lines 1,500 meters away. On the way back two Germans with antitank rifles were encountered, the rifles captured. Sergeant Nichols and his driver were under heavy machine-gun and artillery fire throughout the operation.