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 William A. Shea (ASN: 556292), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Machine-Gun Company, 39th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Cuisy, France, 26 September 1918. Although painfully wounded by machine-gun fire, Sergeant Shea placed himself in an exposed position between two machine-guns, and by the use of his glasses directed the fire of a heavy machine-gun barrage on the enemy. He remained in this exposed position for two hours, and his were the only guns which remained in action under the sweeping fire of the enemy.