World War Medals

ORIGINAL WORLD WAR II UNITED STATES ARMY LEGION OF MERIT MEDAL, W/ SLOT BROOCH, AND PIN-BACK RIBBON BAR WITH OAK LEAF. LEGION OF MERIT WAS THE 5TH HIGHEST MILITARY AWARD IN THE UNITED STATES DURING WW2 – EARLY VIETNAM. The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the seven uniformed services of the United States as well as to military and political figures of foreign governments. The Legion of Merit (Commander degree) is one of only two United States military decorations to be issued as a neck order (the other being the Medal of Honor) and the only United States military decoration which may be issued in award degrees (much like an order of chivalry or certain Orders of Merit). The Legion of Merit is sixth in the order of precedence of U. Military awards and is worn after the Defense Superior Service Medal and before the Distinguished Flying Cross. [4] In contemporary use in the U. Armed Forces, the Legion of Merit is typically awarded to Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force general officers and colonels, and Navy and Coast Guard flag officers and captains occupying senior command or very senior staff positions in their respective services. It may also be awarded to officers of lesser rank, senior warrant officers (typically in command positions at the rank of CW5), and to very senior enlisted personnel (typically in the rank of CSM and SMA in the Army, FLTCM and MCPON in the Navy, CMSAF in the Air Force and SgtMajMC in the Marine Corps), but these instances are less frequent, typically by exception, and the circumstances vary by branch of service. Authority to award the Legion of Merit is reserved for general officers and flag officers in pay grade O-9 e. Lieutenant General and Vice Admiral and above, civilian Department of Defense personnel at assistant service secretary or Assistant Secretary of Defense level and above, or equivalent civilian personnel with the Department of Homeland Security with direct oversight of the U. Although recommendations for creation of a Meritorious Service Medal were initiated as early as September 1937, no formal action was taken toward approval. In a letter to the Quartermaster General (QMG) dated December 24, 1941, the Adjutant General formally requested action be initiated to create a Meritorious Service Medal and provide designs in the event the decoration was established. Proposed designs prepared by Bailey, Banks and Biddle and the Office of the Quartermaster General were provided to Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel Colonel Heard by the QMG on January 5, 1942. The Assistant Chief of Staff (G1) B. Hilldring, in a response to the QMG on April 3, 1942, indicated the Secretary of War approved the design recommended by the QMG. The design of the Legion of Merit (change of name) would be ready for issue immediately after legislation authorizing it was enacted into law. A separate Meritorious Service Medal was established in 1969. An act of Congress (Public Law 67177th Congress, Chapter 508, 2d Session) on July 20, 1942, established the Legion of Merit and provided that the medal shall have suitable appurtenances and devices and not more than four degrees, and which the President, under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe, may award to. (a) personnel of the Armed Forces of the United States and of the Government of the Commonwealth Philippines and. (b) personnel of the armed forces of friendly foreign nations who, since the proclamation of an emergency by the President on 1939-09-08, shall have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services. The medal was announced in War Department Bulletin No. 40, dated August 5, 1942. Executive Order 9260, dated October 29, 1942, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, established the rules for the Legion of Merit and required the President’s approval for the award. The Legion of Merit is similar to the French Legion of Honor in both its design, a five armed cross, and in that it is awarded in multiple degrees. Unlike the Legion of Honor, however, the Legion of Merit is only awarded to military personnel. Additionally, it is the only award in the world with multiple degrees of which the higher degrees cannot be awarded to citizens of the country of the award’s origin. In October 1942, Brazilian Army Brigadier General Amaro Soares Bittencourt became the first person awarded the Legion of Merit (Commander) and a week later, Lieutenant Junior Grade Ann A. Bernatitus, a Navy Nurse, became the first member of the United States Armed Forces and the first woman to receive the Legion of Merit. She received the award for her service during the defense of the Philippines. LTJG Bernatitus was also the first recipient of the Legion of Merit authorized to wear a Combat “V” with the medal. General Eisenhower was presented the Legion of Merit by President Roosevelt, while he was en route to the Tehran Conference, in Cairo, Egypt on November 26, 1943. In 1943, at the request of Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, approval authority for U. Personnel was delegated to the War Department. Executive Order 10600, dated March 15, 1955, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, again revised approval authority. Current provisions are contained in Title 10, United States Code 1121. As a result, awarding authority for the Legion of Merit resides with general officers/flag officers at the Lieutenant General / Vice Admiral level or higher. The Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, unlike the Army and, later, the Air Force, provided for the Legion of Merit to be awarded with a “V” device indicating awards for participation in combat operations. From 1942 to 1944, the Legion of Merit was awarded for a fairly wide range of achievements. This was because it was, until the establishment of the Bronze Star Medal in 1944, the only decoration below the Silver Star which could be awarded for combat valor as well as being the only decoration lower than the Distinguished Service Medal which could be awarded for meritorious non-combat service. The item “WW II, US Legion of Merit Legionnaire Medal with Ribbon Bar in Case, # 10399″ is in sale since Tuesday, September 25, 2018. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Militaria\WW II (1939-45)\Original Period Items\United States\Medals & Ribbons”. The seller is “bob5gws” and is located in Lafayette, Louisiana. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, Ukraine, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Chile, Colombia, Costa rica, Panama, Trinidad and tobago, Guatemala, El salvador, Honduras, Jamaica.