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 Master Gunner Joseph Bourdu, Army of France, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 26th Battery, 208th Regiment, Field Artillery, Army of France, near Le Ruddin, Vosges, France, 15 June 1918. While a battalion of the 11th Infantry was halted on the road near Le Ruddin, Vosges, it came under heavy shell fire from a German battery. First Lieutenant Edison M. Boarke, badly wounded in the left arm and shoulder, attempted to reach a place of safety by rolling down an embankment near the road, when he was picked up by Master Gunner Bourdu, under heavy shell fire, and carried on his back to a place of safety.