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 Corporal Thomas J. O’Keefe (ASN: 54159), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company H, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Verdun, France, 4 October 1918. Corporal O’Keefe voluntarily advanced alone into the woods to destroy an enemy machine-gun nest and in a single-handed pistol fight with eight of the enemy, succeeded in killing four Germans before he himself was killed in this unequal combat.