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 Second Lieutenant (Air Service) Elmore Kenney McKay, United States Army Air Service, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 96th Aero Squadron, U.S. Army Air Service, A.E.F., near Dun-Sur-Meuse, France, 23 October 1918. Lieutenant McKay, with First Lieutenant Harry O. McDougall, pilot, while on a bombing mission displayed exceptional courage by leaving a comparatively secure position in the center of the formation during a combat with five enemy planes and going to the protection of two other officers whose planes had been disabled and forced out of the formation. While his pilot skillfully maneuvered the machine, Lieutenant McKay shot down one of the adversaries and fought off the others, thereby saving the lives of the officers in the disabled American plane.