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 Silas Vance Sneeden (ASN: 1323126), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company C, 115th Machine-Gun Battalion, 30th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Ypres, Belgium, 23 August 1918. Upon learning that his platoon commander and several comrades had been wounded by heavy shell fire, Private Sneeden voluntarily left his dugout and went to their assistance, helping to carry them 500 yards to the dressing station across an open field heavily bombarded with gas and high-explosive shells.