The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Second Lieutenant Frank Nelms, Jr., United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism as a pilot in the FIRST Marine Aviation Force, at the front in France, where he participated in numerous air raids into enemy territory. On 28 September 1918 while on such a raid, he was attacked by a superior number of enemy scouts, and is believed to have destroyed an enemy plane. On 2 October 1918, when word was received that a body of French troops had been cut off from supplies for two days by the enemy, and it was decided to feed them by aeroplane, food was loaded in planes and Lieutenant Nelms flew over the besieged troops at an altitude of only one hundred feet and dropped the food where these troops could get it. This performance was repeated three times, each time under intense fire from rifles, machine guns and artillery on the ground.