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 First Lieutenant (Infantry) Almeron Walton Shanklin, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Cunel, France, 15 October 1918. Forbidding his men to leave their place of safety, Lieutenant Shanklin went forth, in the face of heavy machine-gun fire, located and sighted his 37-mm. gun, receiving wounds which proved fatal.