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 Captain (Infantry) Grant Shepherd, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 23d Infantry Regiment, 2d Division, American Expeditionary Forces, at Soissons and Chateau-Thierry, France, June and July, 1918. After being so seriously gassed as to be rendered temporarily so blind that he had to be led by hand through the trenches, Captain Shepherd refused to be evacuated, nevertheless visiting all portions of his trenches to encourage his troops to hold at a most critical stage in the operations. Commanding his company in the Soissons-Reims offensive, he advanced over the top in front of his company, personally engaging machine-gun nests with his men, until he was so severely wounded by the explosion of a shell as to render him a cripple for the rest of his life.