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Distinguished Service Medal (Army)

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Army Distinguished Service Medal
Image:Distservmedal.jpg
Awarded by United States Army
Type Medal
Awarded for
Precedence
Next highest Army - Distinguished Service Cross
Navy - Navy Cross
Air Force - Air Force Cross
Same Distinguished Service Medal: Defense, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard
Next lowest Silver Star
This article concerns the United States Army Distinguished Service Medal. Please see "Distinguished Service Medal" for other U.S. versions of the Distinguished Service Medal.

The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military award of the United States Army that is presented to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the United States military, has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility. The performance must be such as to merit recognition for service that is clearly exceptional. Exceptional performance of normal duty will not alone justify an award of this decoration.

Separate Distinguished Service Medals exist for the different branches of the military as well as a fifth version of the medal which is a senior award of the United States Department of Defense. The Army version of the Distinguished Service Medal is typically referred to simply as the "Distinguished Service Medal" while the other branches of service use the service name as a prefix.

For service not related to actual war, the term "duty of a great responsibility" applies to a narrower range of positions than in time of war, and requires evidence of conspicuously significant achievement. However, justification of the award may accrue by virtue of exceptionally meritorious service in a succession of high positions of great importance.

Awards may be made to persons other than members of the Armed Forces of the United States for wartime services only, and then only under exceptional circumstances, with the express approval of the President in each case.

Because of the criteria for the medal, most awards of the Army Distinguished Service Medal have been to general officers and admirals. Among notable recipients below flag rank are: X-1 test pilot Chuck Yeager and X-15 test pilot Robert M. White, who both received the DSM as U.S. Air Force majors (at the time, there was no Air Force Distinguished Service Medal); Air Force Major Rudolph Anderson (posthumous); director Frank Capra, decorated in 1945 as an Army colonel; Col. Wendell Fertig, who led Filipino guerrillas behind Japanese lines; and Col. (later Major General) John K. Singlaub, who led partisan forces in the Korean War.

Contents

[edit] Design of the Distinguished Service Medal

The medal consists of the Coat of Arms of the United States in Gold surrounded by a circle of Dark Blue enamel, 1.5 inches (38 mm) in diameter, bearing the inscription "FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MCMXVIII." On the reverse is a scroll for the name of the recipient (which is to be engraved) upon a trophy of flags and weapons. The medal is suspended by a bar attached to the ribbon. The ribbon is 1 3/8 inches (35 mm) wide and consists of the following stripes: 5/16 inch (8 mm) scarlet 67111; 1/16 inch (2 mm) ultramarine blue 67118; 5/8 inch (16 mm) white 67101; 1/16 inch (2 mm) ultramarine blue; and 5/16 inch (8 mm) scarlet.

Additional awards of the Distinguished Service Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters.

[edit] History of the Distinguished Service Medal

The Distinguished Service Medal was authorized by Presidential Order dated January 2, 1918, and confirmed by Congress on July 9, 1918. It was announced by War Department General Order No. 6, January 12, 1918, with the following information concerning the medal: "A bronze medal of appropriate design and a ribbon to be worn in lieu thereof, to be awarded by the President to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the Army shall hereafter distinguish himself or herself, or who, since April 6, 1917, has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility in time of war or in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United States." The Act of Congress on July 9, 1918, recognized the need for different types and degrees of heroism and meritorious service and included such provisions for award criteria. The current statutory authorization for the Distinguished Service Medal is Title 10, United States Code, Section 3743.

Among the first awards of the Distinguished Service Medal for service in World War I were those presented to the Commanding Officers of the Allied Armies: General Pershing of the United States, Marshals Foch and Joffre and General Petain of France, Field Marshal Haig of the United Kingdom, General Monash of Australia, General Diaz of Italy and General Gillain of Belgium. More than 2,000 awards were made during World War I, and by the time the United States entered World War II, approximately 2,800 awards had been made. From July 1, 1941 to June 6, 1969, when the Army stopped publishing awards of the DSM in Department of the Army General Orders, over 2,800 further awards were made (George H. Apgar, Awards of the US Army Distinguished Service Medal 1942-1969, 1995 Planchet Press).

[edit] Notable recipients

Because the Army Distinguished Service Medal was principally awarded to general officers, a list of notable recipients would include nearly every prominent general since 1918, many of whom received multiple awards. Hence the list below can only be a sampling of notable recipients.

United States Army

United States Air Force (note: In several cases, these officers received their first awards of the DSM as Army Air Force officers before the separation of the Air Force from the Army in 1947. The list below includes those who received a DSM, or an oak leaf cluster to the DSM, as Air Force officers. Those whose awards were all received as Army Air Force officers are listed above under U.S. Army recipients.)

United States Navy

United States Marine Corps

Notable U.S. civilian recipients

Notable foreign recipients

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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