The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Soldier’s Medal to Staff Sergeant William A. Bertsch (ASN: R-2339749), United States Army, for heroism, not involving actual conflict with an enemy, displayed while serving with the Detached Enlisted Men’s List, Organized Reserves, in rescuing a girl from drowning in the Mad River, Dayton, Ohio, 20 July 1934. Responding to a call for help from a drowning girl who had gone down in a deep hole in the Mad River, Sergeant Bertsch swam to her rescue and brought the partially unconscious girl safely to shore where he administered artificial respiration.