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 First Lieutenant (Infantry) Merritt Baxter Wilson, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 125th Infantry Regiment, 32d Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Reddy Farm, France, 2 August 1918. With a party of 30 men, Lieutenant Wilson led the advance on the Bois Chenet, where a full company of Germans, supported by machine-guns, were encountered. Due to his splendid leadership and example, this resistance was overcome and the woods were taken. Although suffering great pain from a broken ear drum, caused by the explosion of a shell, Lieutenant Wilson immediately led his party to the flank of the battalion, where numerous attempts of the enemy to retake the woods were repulsed. He refused to leave his company for first aid until darkness had brought an end to the advance.