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 John L. Piazza (ASN: 2450145), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company C, 312th Infantry Regiment, 78th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Talma Farm, France, 17 October 1918. During the operations of October 17 Sergeant Piazza went through heavy machine-gun and artillery fire to carry a wounded private of his platoon from an exposed position to a place of safety. A short time after, he carried a wounded officer of his company across an open space of 80 yards and a stream, subjected to machine-gun and sniper’s fire, to a place where he could be removed by stretcher bearers.