The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Second Lieutenant Walter Thorn, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 1 January 1865, while serving with Company G, 116th U.S. Colored Infantry, in action at Dutch Gap Canal, Virginia. After the fuze to the mined bulkhead had been lit, Second Lieutenant Thorn, learning that the picket guard had not been withdrawn, mounted the bulkhead and at great personal peril warned the guard of its danger.