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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



American Red Cross. Through her great 

 efforts and devotion to duty eighteen 

 thousand seven hundred and thirty-two 

 nurses were secured and transferred to 

 the Army Nurse Corps for service dur- 

 ing the war. Thus she was a great factor 

 in assisting the Medical Department in 

 caring for the sick and wounded." 



The illustrations show (see Nos. 7 and 

 24) that the ribbons of the Army and 

 Navy Distinguished Service Medals are 

 not the same, and this is the only excep- 

 tion to the general rule, as in all other 

 cases the Army and Navy have identical 

 ribbons, although the designs of the 

 medals are different. 



The same bronze oak-leaf cluster that 

 is used with the Medal of Honor for a 

 second award is also applicable to the 

 Distinguished Service Medal (see Dis- 

 tinguished Service Cross service ribbon 

 illustration, page 505) ; but, as in the case 

 of the valor decoration, no such award 

 has yet been made. 



DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS 



The Distinguished Service Cross (No. 

 4) is purely an Army decoration and is 

 bestowed as a reward for individual acts 

 of "extraordinary heroism in connection 

 with military operations against an armed 

 enemy" not warranting the award of the 

 Medal of Honor. 



Several bronze oak-leaf clusters have 

 been bestowed in lieu of a second award, 

 as instanced by the following citations : 



"By direction of the President, under 

 the provisions of the act of Congress ap- 

 proved July 9, 19 1 8, the distinguished- 

 service cross was awarded by the com- 

 manding general, American Expedition- 

 ary Forces, for extraordinary heroism in 

 action in Europe, to the following-named 

 officers and enlisted men of the American 

 Expeditionary Forces : 



"Juuus Aaronson, private, Company 

 G, 109th Infantry. For extraordinary 

 heroism in action near Apremont, France, 

 October 7, 1918. When his company was 

 suddenly fired upon by enemy machine 

 guns during an advance and forced to 

 seek shelter, Pvt. Aaronson remained in 

 the open under a continuous shower of 



machine-gun bullets, caring for eight 

 wounded men, dressing their wounds and 

 securing their evacuation. 



"For the following act of extraordinary 

 heroism in action near Apremont, France, 

 on the same date, Pvt. Aaronson is 

 awarded an oak-leaf cluster to be worn 

 with the distinguished-service cross : 

 Having become separated from his com- 

 pany and wounded, by a bullet which 

 pierced his helmet, he advanced alone on 

 a machine-gun nest across an open field 

 in broad daylight, killed the gunner and 

 captured two of the crew, whom he 

 pressed into the service of carrying 

 wounded." 



EOUR LEAVES ON AN AIRMAN'S CROSS 



The experiences of Lieutenant Hunter, 

 of the Air Service, as given in the official 

 citations, form most interesting reading: 



"Frank O'D. Hunter, first lieuten- 

 ant, Air Service, pilot, 103d Aero Squad- 

 ron. For extraordinary heroism in action 

 in the region of Ypres, Belgium, June 22, 

 1918, Lieut. Hunter, while on patrol, 

 alone attacked two enemy biplanes, de- 

 stroying one and forcing the other to re- 

 tire. In the course of the combat he was 

 wounded in the forehead. Despite his 

 injuries he succeeded in returning his 

 damaged plane to his own aerodrome. 



"A bronze oak leaf, for extraordinary 

 heroism in action in the region of Cham- 

 pey, France, September 13, 1918. He, 

 accompanied by one other plane, attacked 

 an enemy patrol of six planes. Despite 

 numerical superiority and in a decisive 

 combat, he destroyed one enemy plane 

 and, with the aid of his companion, forced 

 the others within their own lines. 



"A bronze oak leaf, for extraordinary 

 heroism in action near Verneville, France. 

 September 17, 1918. Leading a patrol of 

 three planes, he attacked an enemy for- 

 mation of eight planes. Although out- 

 numbered, they succeeded in bringing 

 down four of the enemy. Lieut. Hunter 

 accounted for two of these. 



"A bronze oak leaf, for extraordinary 

 heroism in action in the region of Liny- 

 devant-Dun, France. While separated 

 from his patrol he observed an allied 

 patrol of seven planes (Breguets) hard 

 pressed by an enemy formation of 10 



