The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Private First Class Karl Allen Brooks (ASN: 6261350), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Company A, 1st Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces on 1 July 1944, in the vicinity of the Cecina River, Italy. An enemy counter-attacking forcer succeeded in infiltrating through a company’s positions on a hill covered with thick brush. In the fierce, close-range fighting that followed, several men were wounded and the company was forced to withdraw and reorganize, leaving all wounded on the field of battle. Observing that his wounded comrades faced either death or capture, Private First Class Brooks, although painfully wounded himself during the engagement, secured a submachine gun and a number of grenades and took up a position between the enemy and his wounded fellow soldiers. Determined to save his comrades, he fired his submachine gun at the Germans and hurled grenades at hem, killing seven and wounding several others. His heroic stand held off the enemy to enable his company to reorganize, move forward, ae repulse the counterattack. Private Brooks not only saved his comrades, but so inspired other members of his company that they routed the enemy and inflicted heavy casualties. Private First Class Brooks’ extraordinary heroism and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.