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 Private Charles Schmitz (ASN: 40214), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company I, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2d Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Tilly, Marie Louise sector, France, 14 April 1918. During an attack on his company by superior forces, Private Schmitz advanced single handed against five Germans who had taken cover in a shell hole and killed or wounded all of them with an automatic rifle.