Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

2nd Lieutenant (Second-lieutenant)

Unit:

Company I, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division "The Rock of the Marne", U.S. Army

CITATION:
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 Second Lieutenant (Infantry) Patrick H. Adams (ASN: 0-1299976), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action against a hostile force. Second Lieutenant Adams distinguished himself by intrepid actions on 29 August 1944 while serving with Company I, 3d Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, in action north of Montelimar, France. When one of his scouts was seriously wounded by machine pistol fire, Lieutenant Adams, although afflicted with a knee injury, crawled forward, and jumping into the machine pistolman's foxhole, seized him by the throat and took him prisoner. Inspired by his example, his platoon attacked, killing six Germans. After combing out two enemy-held buildings and taking forty more prisoners in the process, Lieutenant Adams led his platoon forward through a concentration of mortar fire and took five more prisoners in a third house. Under his relentlessly aggressive leadership, the men of his platoon, although exhausted from incessant marching and fighting, overwhelmed three successive German strongpoints, killing six and capturing approximately fifty of the enemy. Second Lieutenant Adams' unquestionable valor in close combat is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 7th Infantry Regiment, and the United States Army.