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 First Sergeant John Millard Peurifoy (ASN: 1902869), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company L, 326th Infantry Regiment, 82d Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Pylone, France, 9 October 1913. After he had seen an officer and 13 men of his company fall from the fire of enemy machine-guns and snipers, Sergeant Peurifoy advanced alone, and, after crawling about 50 yards in advance of his company, he shot a sniper from a tree and drove off the crews of two machine-guns located nearby. His action permitted the further advance of his company.