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) Harry S. Whitthorne, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 140th Infantry Regiment, 35th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Exermont, France, 28 September 1918, and 1 October 1918. Captain Whitthorne organized a detachment to go 1200 yards in front of our lines to rescue the wounded in a wood previously occupied. He brought back over 20 of the wounded, who would otherwise have been captured or died from exposure, the rescue being effected under heavy machine-gun and artillery fire. Later, when he was the only officer with the battalion, he refused to be evacuated, though wounded and burned by mustard gas, remaining in command until the battalion was relieved.