First Lieutenant (then Staff Sergeant) RAY E. SCHMIDT, Company “F”, 104th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, United States Army. For the extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy in FRANCE. On 9 November 1944, near the town of Chateau Saline in the Alsace-Lorraine Sector of France, where at the time the 2nd Bn 104th Infantry Regiment were engaged in battle with the German 11th SS Panzer Division, Sergeant SCHMIDT a platoon leader of “F” Company, went to the rescue of seven comrades that were lying wounded and helpless on a hillside that was under enemy artillery and mortar fire. Sergeant SCHMIDT without regard for his own personal safety, crawled up the hillside under enemy fire to drag each wounded man to safety in a shallow trench about 30 yards away. There he gave each man first aid as best he could until proper medical aid could arrive. Sergeant SCHMIDT made seven heroic trips to accomplish this task. The fearless determination of this soldier and his courageous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military service.