The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Lieutenant Colonel (Medical Corps) Haven Emerson, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I, as Chief Epidemiologist of the Office of the Chief Surgeon, American Expeditionary Forces, where he perfected a system of keeping daily checks on all of the many contagious diseases which afflicted the American Expeditionary Forces. Much sickness and many lives were saved by this system, the practical working of which was due to the experience and tireless energy of Lieutenant Colonel Emerson.