Specially Meritorious Medal

Catalog description

United States Navy and United States Marine Corps decoration established by Joint Resolution No. 18, approved 3 March 1901, for officers and men who rendered specially meritorious service, otherwise than in battle, during the Spanish-American War of 1898. The medal is made of bronze and features a Maltese cross design. It is suspended from a distinctive plain red ribbon. The reverse is engraved with the recipient's name and the specific act for which the medal was awarded. Under the original legislation, a recipient qualifying for recognition on more than one occasion receives an appropriately inscribed bronze bar attached to the suspension ribbon instead of a second medal. This is a historical meritorious-service decoration, not a combat-gallantry award. The medal is no longer issued.