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Decorations and Awards
- Commemoration Toolkits
- Wars, Conflicts, and Operations
- American Revolution
- War of 1812
- Mexican-American War
- Civil War
- Steam Navy
- Spanish-American War
- Early 20th-Century Conflicts
- World War I
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- Cold War Era
- Cuban Missile Crisis
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- Middle East Engagements
- POW MIA
- Pirate Interdiction and the U.S. Navy
- The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
- Heritage
- Uniforms
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1776-1783
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1797
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1802
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1812-1815
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1815
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1830-1841
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1841
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1852
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1852-1855
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1862-1863
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1864
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1898
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1900
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1905-1913
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1917-1918
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1918-1919
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1922-1931
- Uniforms of the U.S Navy 1941
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1942-1943
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1943-1944
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1951-1952
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1961
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1967
- Customs and Traditions
- Sailors' Tattoos
- Goats and the U.S. Navy
- Navy Athletics
- The Sailor’s Creed
- The Ship’s Bell
- Striking the Flag
- Unofficial Navy Certificates
- Precedence of Forces in Parades
- Passing Honors, National Anniversaries, and Solemnities
- Rocks and Shoals: Articles for the Government of the U.S. Navy
- Plank Owners
- Ship Naming
- Twenty-One Gun Salute
- Change of Command
- Navy Music
- Commissioning Pennant
- Ship Launching and Commissioning
- Burial at Sea
- Crossing the Line
- Banners
- Life Aboard
- Decorations and Awards
- Speak Like a Sailor
- Famous Navy Quotations
- Origins of the Navy
- U.S. Navy History Lessons Learned
- The Navy and Marine Corps Team
- "Ex Scientia Tridens": The U.S. Naval Academy
- Uniforms
- Communities
- Disasters and Phenomena
- Organization and Administration
- Leadership
- Ranks
- Regulations and Policy
- Personnel
- Service and Medical Records
- U.S. Navy Installations
- Washington Navy Yard, District of Columbia
- Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia
- Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut
- Naval Station Mayport, Florida
- Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
- Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois
- Naval Base San Diego, California
- Naval Base Kitsap, Washington
- Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
- U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan
- Naval Support Activity Bahrain
- Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy
- Historic Former U.S. Navy Bases and Stations
- Diversity
- Exploration and Innovation
- Electricity and USS Trenton
- The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet
- The Voyage of a Lifetime
- The Ships of the Great White Fleet
- Great White Fleet Gallery
- Beginning of the Cruise
- Fleet Leadership
- Crossing the Equator
- World Cruise Experience
- At Sea
- Puerto Rico-South America-Mexico
- U.S. West Coast
- Hawaii-Australia-New Zealand
- Japan and China
- Philippines and Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
- Suez Canal-Egypt-Turkey
- Mediterranean
- End of the Cruise
- Memorabilia
- Navy Role in Space Exploration
- Polar Exploration
- The First U.S. Naval Observatory
- Bathyscaphe Trieste
- Airships & Dirigibles
- Higgins Boats
- Navy’s Use of Torpedoes
- The Nuclear Navy
- Radar and Sonar
- Navy’s Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
- Naval Mine Warfare
- The Navy’s Use of Carrier Pigeons
- Notable People
- Presidents
- Chiefs of Naval Operations
- The Office
- Admiral William S. Benson
- Admiral Robert E. Coontz
- Admiral Edward W. Eberle
- Admiral Charles F. Hughes
- Admiral William V. Pratt
- Admiral William H. Standley
- Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy
- Admiral Harold R. Stark
- Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King
- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
- Admiral Louis E. Denfeld
- Admiral Forrest P. Sherman
- Admiral William M. Fechteler
- Admiral Robert B. Carney
- Admiral Arleigh A. Burke
- Admiral George W. Anderson Jr.
- Admiral David L. McDonald
- Admiral Thomas H. Moorer
- Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr.
- Admiral James L. Holloway III
- Admiral Thomas B. Hayward
- Admiral James D. Watkins
- Admiral Carlisle A. H. Trost
- Admiral Frank B. Kelso II
- Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda
- Admiral Jay L. Johnson
- Admiral Vernon E. Clark
- Admiral Michael G. Mullen
- Admiral Gary Roughead
- Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert
- Admiral John M. Richardson
- Admiral Michael Gilday
- Master Chief Petty Officers of the Navy
- MCPON Delbert D. Black
- MCPON John D. Whittet
- MCPON Robert J. Walker
- MCPON Thomas S. Crow
- MCPON Billy C. Sanders
- MCPON William H. Plackett
- MCPON Duane R. Bushey
- MCPON John Hagan
- MCPON James L. Herdt
- MCPON Terry D. Scott
- MCPON Joe R. Campa Jr.
- MCPON Rick D. West
- MCPON Michael D. Stevens
- MCPON Steven S. Giordano
- MCPON Official Photographs
- Historical Figures
- Secretaries of the Navy
- Benjamin Stoddert (1798 - 1801)
- Robert Smith (1801 - 1809)
- Paul Hamilton (1809 - 1812)
- William Jones (1813 - 1814)
- Benjamin W. Crowninshield (1815 - 1818)
- Smith Thompson (1819 - 1823)
- Samuel Southard (1823 - 1829)
- John Branch, Jr. (1829 - 1831)
- Levi Woodbury (1831 - 1834)
- Mahlon Dickerson (1834 - 1838)
- James K. Paulding (1838 - 1841)
- George Edmund Badger (1841)
- Abel P. Upshur (1841 - 1843)
- David Henshaw (1843 - 1844)
- Thomas W. Gilmer (1844)
- John Y. Mason (1844-1845) (1846-1849)
- George Bancroft (1845 - 1846)
- William B. Preston (1849 - 1850)
- William A. Graham (1850 - 1852)
- John P. Kennedy (1852 - 1853)
- James C. Dobbin (1853 - 1857)
- Isaac Toucey (1857 - 1861)
- Gideon Welles (1861 - 1869)
- Adolph Edward Borie (1869)
- George M. Robeson (1869 - 1877)
- Richard W. Thompson (1877 - 1880)
- Nathan Goff, Jr. (1881)
- William Henry Hunt (1881 - 1882)
- William Eaton Chandler (1882 - 1885)
- William C. Whitney (1885 - 1889)
- Benjamin F. Tracy (1889 - 1893)
- Hilary A. Herbert (1893 - 1897)
- John D. Long (1897 - 1902)
- William H. Moody (1902 - 1904)
- Paul Morton (1904 - 1905)
- Charles J. Bonaparte (1905 - 1906)
- Victor H. Metcalf (1906 - 1908)
- Truman H. Newberry (1908 - 1909)
- George von L. Meyer (1909 - 1913)
- Josephus Daniels (1913 - 1921)
- Edwin Denby (1921 - 1924)
- Charles F. Adams, III (1929 - 1933)
- Claude A. Swanson (1933 - 1939)
- Charles Edison (1940)
- William Franklin Knox (1940 - 1944)
- James Forrestal (1944 - 1947)
- John Lawrence Sullivan (1947 - 1949)
- Francis P. Matthews (1949 - 1951)
- Dan A. Kimball (1951 - 1953)
- Robert B. Anderson (1953 - 1954)
- Charles S. Thomas (1954 - 1957)
- Thomas S. Gates (1957 - 1959)
- William Birrell Franke (1959 - 1961)
- John Bowden Connally, Jr. (1961)
- Fred Korth (1962 - 1963)
- Paul B. Fay (acting) (1963)
- Paul Henry Nitze (1963 - 1967)
- Charles Fitz Baird (acting) (1967)
- Paul R. Ignatius (1967 - 1969)
- John Hubbard Chafee (1969 - 1972)
- John William Warner (1972 - 1974)
- J. William Middendorf (1974 - 1977)
- William Graham Claytor, Jr. (1977 - 1979)
- Edward Hidalgo (1979 - 1981)
- John Lehman (1981 - 1987)
- James H. Webb (1987 - 1988)
- William L. Ball (1988 - 1989)
- Henry L. Garrett III (1989 - 1992)
- Daniel Howard (acting) (1992)
- Sean Charles O'Keefe (1992 - 1993)
- ADM Frank B. Kelso, II (acting) (1993)
- John Howard Dalton (1993 - 1998)
- Richard Jeffrey Danzig (1998 - 2001)
- Robert B. Pirie, Jr. (acting) (2001)
- Gordon R. England (2001-2003) (2003-2005)
- Susan M. Livingstone (acting) (2003)
- Hansford T. Johnson (acting) (2003)
- Donald Charles Winter (2006 - 2009)
- Raymond Edwin Mabus, Jr. (2009 - 2017)
- Sean G. J. Stackley (acting) (2017)
- Richard V. Spencer (2017 - 2019)
- Thomas B. Modly (acting) (2019-2020)
- James E. McPherson (acting) (2020)
- Kenneth J. Braithwaite (2020-2021)
- Thomas W. Harker (acting) (2021)
- Carlos Del Toro (2021-present)
- Profiles in Duty
- Medal of Honor Recipients
- Modern Navy Veterans
- Namesakes
- Sergeant Cornelius H. Charlton
- Private First Class Oscar P. Austin
- Civil Rights Activist Medgar Evers
- Private George Watson
- Cook First Class William Pinckney
- Commander Mary Sears
- Rear Admiral Grace Hopper
- Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
- Senator Daniel K. Inouye
- Private First Class Herbert K. Pililaau
- Sergeant First Class Rodney J.T. Yano
- First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez
- Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez
- Civil Rights Activist Cesar Chavez
- Admiral David Glasgow Farragut
- Private First Class Fernando Garcia
- Sergeant Alfredo Gonzalez
- Sergeant Rafael Peralta
- Chief Petty Officer James E. Williams
- Guide and Interpreter Sacagawea
- Sergeant Darrell Samuel Cole
- Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee
- Captain Thomas J. Hudner, Jr.
- Trailblazers
- Notable Ships
- U.S. Navy’s Six Original Frigates
- Ships of Sail
- Sail-to-Steam
- Modern Ships
- Alchiba (AK-23)
- Arizona (BB-39)
- Cole (DDG-67)
- Fletcher (DD-445)
- Harmon (DE-678)
- Houston (CA-30)
- Indianapolis (CA-35)
- Jacob Jones (DD-61)
- Johnston (DD-557)
- Maddox (DD-731)
- Missouri (BB-63)
- O'Bannon (DD-450)
- Pueblo (AGER-2)
- Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58)
- San Diego (CL-53)
- San Francisco (CA-38)
- Tripoli (LPH-10)
- Turner Joy (DD-951)
- Washington (BB-56)
- Aircraft Carriers
- Submarines
Background
American Sailors and Marines were without official medals or other visible signs of their overseas service or combat for the first 120 years of the Navy's existence, since orders, medals and decorations were seen as the trappings of royalty and empire and ran contrary to the republican spirit present at the founding of our country. On rare occasions, Congress authorized special commemorative medals for heroes of dramatic naval victories, but these went chiefly to the vessels' commanding officer and were not medals intended for wear on the naval uniform. Congress repeatedly showed a reluctance to authorize official medals commemorating service by the armed forces.
Establishment of Campaign Badges
In 1905, the U.S. Army, with the encouragement of then-President Theodore Roosevelt, created a series of badges for wear on the uniform commemorating prior service in designated campaigns. The issuance of badges as part of the uniform fell under the authority of the individual services and required no congressional approval. The Navy Department followed suit with Special Order No. 81 of 27 June 1908, authorizing a series of "badges" for service as distant in time as the Civil War, the Spanish-American War and the Boxer Rebellion.
Descriptions of Awards
The 1908 directive was but the first step in molding a system of service medals recognizing service by Navy and Marine Corps personnel in the far-flung corners of the world that continues to this day.
The bulk of the information in this section comes from the 1948, 1953, and 2006 U.S. Navy Awards Manuals. Changes and revisions occur over the years and, when appropriate, are noted. Several historical notes are annotated. Information has also come from the Manual of Military Decorations and Awards: DoD Service Awards—Campaign, Expeditionary, and Service Medals, May 15, 2015.
Most commemorative medals (those issued prior to Navy sanctioning in 1908) are not included here because they rarely are encountered. Two, however, the Battle of Manila Bay Medal and the West Indies Naval Campaign Medal, 1898 are included because of their widespread issuance. Many of the medals described are in the collection of the National Museum of the U.S. Navy at the Washington Navy Yard.
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