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 Lieutenant (Infantry) Washington Reed, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 1st Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 5th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Pont-a-Mousson, France, 25 September 1918. Wounded severely in the knee while leading his company in action, Lieutenant Reed refused first aid and continued to his objective 500 yards away. Here he organized the position under intense shell fire by the enemy. When ordered to withdraw, he used the stretcher, which had been sent for him, to carry back a dead soldier of his company.