THE ROMANCE OF MILITARY IXSIGXIA 



491 



Service ribbons are worn for these 

 orders just as for any other decorations. 

 In some countries devices are placed on 

 the service ribbons to show the class ; in 

 others no such distinction is made. 



THE MEDAL OE HONOR 



In nearly all the countries which are 

 included under the term of Great Powers 

 decorations for distinguished service ren- 

 dered to the State take precedence over 

 those awarded for acts of valor, this on 

 the theory that the services of statesmen, 

 generals, and other public men high in 

 the councils of the nation are of more 

 importance, and therefore deserve higher 

 reward than do individual acts of gal- 

 lantry on the battlefield. 



The exceptions to this rule are Great 

 Britain and the United States, in both of 

 which countries the primary valor decora- 

 tion takes precedence over all others, and 

 it is worthy of note that the standards 

 set for these two rewards are not only 

 higher than in any other country, but 

 they are also more rigorously applied. 



Awards of the Victoria Cross and of 

 the Medal of Honor are so rare and so 

 jealously guarded that they are undoubt- 

 edly the two highest honors which can be 

 bestowed for valor, and this may serve 

 to explain why they are placed first in 

 their respective countries, contrary to 

 the custom of all others. An additional 

 resemblance is that neither is ever be- 

 stowed on a foreigner. The Victoria 

 Cross is limited to British subjects by 

 royal decree ; in the case of the Medal of 

 Honor, there is no law prohibiting its 

 award to a foreigner, but it has never 

 been done, and custom is sometimes more 

 potent than acts of Congress. 



The Medal of Honor was instituted by 

 act of Congress in 1861 and was the 

 earliest American decoration. However, 

 it applied at that time only to enlisted 

 men of the Navy (Xo. 25). In the fol- 

 lowing year enlisted men of the Army 

 were included (Xo. 6), and by an act ap- 

 proved March 3. 1863, its provisions were 

 extended to include officers in the Army, 

 but naval officers were not eligible for 

 this decoration until 191 5. 



The conditions under which the Medal 

 of Honor may be awarded have been 

 changed from time to time by various 



laws. The first, that of 1861, authorized 

 the bestowal upon such enlisted men of 

 the Navy "as shall most distinguish 

 themselves by their gallantry in action 

 and other seamanlike qualities during the 

 present war." The act of the following 

 year, which applied to the Army, read 

 the same, except that "seamanlike" was 

 replaced by "soldierlike" and the war 

 was termed an "insurrection." 



In its original conception, therefore, 

 the Medal of Honor was not limited to 

 heroism, much less to heroism in action, 

 as seamanlike or soldierlike qualities 

 could be rewarded with this medal. 

 However, this did not last long. The 

 Army conditions were changed in 1863, 

 so as to bestow the medal on those who 

 "have most distinguished or may here- 

 after most distinguish themselves in ac- 

 tion." This absolutely limited it to serv- 

 ices in action, and the conditions were 

 made more stringent later, when the 

 present wording was adopted, as follows : 



"The President is authorized to pre- 

 sent, in the name of Congress, a Medal 

 of Honor only to each person who, while 

 an officer or enlisted man of the Army, 

 shall hereafter, in action involving actual 

 conflict with an enemy, distinguish him- 

 self conspicuously by gallantry and in- 

 trepidity at the risk of his life, above and 

 beyond the call of dutv." 



The application of these conditions has 

 placed the Medal of Honor upon the high 

 plane which it enjoys today. 



ARMY AND NAVY MEDALS OE HONOR NOW 

 ON THE SAME FOOTING 



The Navy medal was changed in 1862 

 to bestow it on "seamen distinguishing 

 themselves in battle or for extraordinarv 

 heroism in the line of their profession." 

 This eliminated "seamanlike qualities" 

 and confined it to heroism, but it will be 

 noted that it permitted the granting of 

 the reward for heroism at other times 

 than in action, and a number of Medals 

 of Honor have been so given in the Navy. 

 This condition lasted until February. 

 1919, when the wording of the Army con- 

 ditions was adopted for the Navy also, so 

 that the two medals are now on exactly 

 the same footing. 



The intention of the lawmakers was to 

 reward a heroic act which was not di- 



