During World War I, Major Donovan led the 1st battalion, 165th Infantry of the 42d Division. Serving in France, he suffered a shrapnel wound in one leg and was almost blinded by gas. After performing a rescue under fire, he was offered the Croix de Guerre, but turned it down because a Jewish soldier who had taken part in the rescue had not also been awarded the honor. When this insult was corrected, Donovan accepted the distinction. He also was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for leading an assault during the Aisne-Marne campaign, in which hundreds of members of his regiment died, including his acting adjutant, the poet Joyce Kilmer. The 1940 James Cagney movie, "The Fighting 69th", dramatised the events of this battle and the 69th Infantry Regiment's role in it.