(Citation Needed) – SYNOPSIS: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Private Mario Pomponio (ASN: 42097185), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Company E, 2d Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, in action against enemy forces on 30 January 1945, near Wihr-en-Plaine, France. At dawn, 60 Germans attacked the position of Private Pomponio’s depleted 5-man squad, forcing them to seek refuge in an abandoned house behind a 6-foot stone wall. The enemy pursued them, and trapped them inside the structure. Private Pomponio, voluntarily and without a word to the others, charged out of the house as enemy gunfire erupted around him, and vaulted to the top of the stone wall. His one-man attack surprised the German machine gunners, who he quickly dismissed with a few accurate shots from his M-1 rifle. Tank and mortar shells exploded around him, and the other four soldiers of Company E, still in the dilapidated house, could see Private Pomponio’s silhouette, illuminated by the burning houses behind him. Firing all the while, he sprinted toward a second machine gun nest, and again with his M-1 rifle, eliminated the threat. As gunfire continued to fill the air, Private Pomponio charged across the courtyard to an adjacent barn, and incredibly, overpowered the ten enemy soldiers inside, who became his prisoners. In his brave one-man assault, Private Pomponio saved the lives of his fellow soldiers. His extraordinary heroism, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.