The Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal is a decoration of the

United States Merchant Marine United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...

(USMM). The decoration is the highest award which can be bestowed upon members of that service. It is awarded to any seaman in the USMM who, on or after September 3, 1939, has distinguished himself during the war by outstanding conduct or service in the line of duty. Regulations state that not more than one medal shall be issued to any one seaman, but for each succeeding instance sufficient to justify the award of a medal, there will be awarded a suitable insignia to be worn with the medal. As the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal is considered a federal service decoration, it may be worn on the uniforms of active, reserve and retired uniformed service members.

Design notes and description

Paul Manship Paul Howard Manship (December 24, 1885 – January 28, 1966) was an American sculptor. He consistently created mythological pieces in a classical style, and was a major force in the Art Deco movement. He is well known for his large public com ...

, subsequent awards of the medal are represented by 5/16th inch gold stars affixed to both the suspension ribbon and the ribbon bar. Original awards have P. M. on the reverse of the suspension device. The medal is in gold-plate with a diameter of 41.9mm. It is composed of a silver 8-point ball tip star superimposed on a gold compass with a square eagle-anchor suspension device. The ribbon is blue, white, red, white, blue.

Recipients

United States Merchant Marine Academy awardees

The first medal was awarded to Edwin F. Cheney on October 8, 1942 by Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House with Admiral Emery S. Land as documented by Lowell Thomas in his book ''These Men Shall Never Die''. *Captain Paul Buck *Midshipman Francis A. Dales *Midshipman Elmer C. Donnelly *Midshipman Edwin Joseph O'Hara - awarded posthumously *Midshipman Walter G. Sittmann *Midshipman William M. Thomas, Jr. *Midshipman Phil Cox Vannais *Midshipman Frederick R. Zito *Midshipman Carl M. Medved *Third Mate Edward Michael Fetherston *Third Mate Michael J. Hainen, September 1991

SS
Mayaguez incident The ''Mayaguez'' incident took place between Kampuchea (now Cambodia) and the United States from 12 to 15 May 1975, less than a month after the Khmer Rouge took control of the capital Phnom Penh ousting the U.S.-backed Khmer Republic. After th ...

*First Officer Clinton Harriman *Third Officer Karl Lonsdale *Yeoman Storekeeper Robert Griffin, *2nd Asst. Engineer Michael Saltwick *Fireman Watertender Hermino Rivera *Oiler Epifanio Rodriguez In addition, the above six Mariners were also awarded the

Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award The Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award is the highest honorary award the Secretary of the Navy can confer on a Department of the Navy civilian employee. Criteria The Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award will be granted only to those ...

Other awardees

*Captain Elis R. Johanson *Third Officer Frederick August Larsen Jr. *Chief Engineer Albert M. Boe *Chief Engineer Thomas J. McTaggart *Radio Operator Kenneth W. Maynard *Master Paul H. Browne

References

External links

Laws Establishing Merchant Marine Medals

Manship sculpture of medal's obverse at the Smithsonian Institution

Manship sculpture of medal's reverse at the Smithsonian Institution
{{Paul Manship, state=collapsed Awards and decorations of the United States Merchant Marine Awards established in 1942 Works by Paul Manship