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 Corporal Thomas Jefferson Silver (ASN: 736111), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company H, 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Fontaines, France, 6 November 1918. Corporal Silver single-handed captured and destroyed a machine gun which was operating on the flank of his company, making progress possible.