Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

1st Lieutenant

Unit:

Company E, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division "The Rock of the Marne", U.S. Army

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 First Lieutenant (Infantry) Fred Hodgson, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Company E, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces on 26 October 1944, in the vicinity of Bourgonce, France. At 1030 hours Lieutenant Hodgson made five single-handed assaults on a powerful concentration of enemy armor which had halted his company. Advancing alone through 105 millimeter and 75 millimeter concentrations, while four enemy tanks deluged the area with cannon and machine gun fire, he knocked out two Mark IV tanks at ten and fifteen yards range with a bazooka; killed two riflemen in foxholes with sub-machine gun fire; stalked a third tank and killed its commander with his pistol at ten yards range. Lieutenant Hodgson's unparalleled fearlessness inspired his company to shatter the remaining enemy armor. His intrepid actions, 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, the 3d Infantry Division, and the United States Army.

Headquarters, Seventh U.S. Army, General Orders No. 172 (1945).