SUBCHAPTER II—AWARDS
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2018—
§2731. Delegation of powers to make awards; rules and regulations
The President may delegate to the Secretary, under such conditions, regulations, and limitations as he prescribes, the powers conferred upon him to make the awards designated in this chapter, and the President may make any and all rules, regulations, and orders which he deems necessary in the conferring of such awards.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393,
Historical and Revision Notes
This section provides for the delegation of powers to make awards to the Secretary. The Navy statute provides for such delegation to force commanders (see title 34, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §364). 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2018—
§2732. Medal of honor
The President may award, and present in the name of Congress, a medal of honor of appropriate design, with ribbons and appurtenances, to an individual who, while a member of the Coast Guard, displays conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of such individual's life above and beyond the call of duty—
(1) while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;
(2) while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force;
(3) while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393,
Historical and Revision Notes
This section is new insofar as application to Coast Guard personnel in time of peace is concerned. Such awards can be made to members of the Coast Guard when the Coast Guard is operating with the Navy.
The language is parallel to that found in title 34, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §354, providing for awards to personnel of the Navy. 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—
2018—
1963—
§2733. Medal of honor: duplicate medal
An individual awarded a medal of honor shall, upon written application of that individual, be issued, without charge, one duplicate medal of honor with ribbons and appurtenances. Such duplicate medal of honor shall be marked, in such manner as the Secretary may determine, as a duplicate or for display purposes only.
(Added
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—
2018—
§2734. Medal of honor: presentation of Medal of Honor Flag
The President shall provide for the presentation of the Medal of Honor Flag designated under
(Added
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—
2018—
2006—
2002—
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Presentation of Flag for Prior Recipients of Medal of Honor
President to provide for the presentation of the Medal of Honor Flag to living recipients of the Medal of Honor as expeditiously as possible after Oct. 17, 2006, and for posthumous presentation to survivors of deceased recipients of the Medal of Honor upon written application therefor, see section 555(b) of
§2735. Coast Guard cross
The President may award a Coast Guard cross of appropriate design, with ribbons and appurtenances, to an individual who, while serving in any capacity with the Coast Guard, when the Coast Guard is not operating under the Department of the Navy, distinguishes himself or herself by extraordinary heroism not justifying the award of a medal of honor—
(1) while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;
(2) while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force or international terrorist organization; or
(3) while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.
(Added
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—
2018—
§2736. Distinguished service medal
The President may present, but not in the name of Congress, a distinguished service medal of appropriate design, with accompanying ribbon, together with a rosette or other device, to be worn in lieu thereof, to any individual who, while serving in any capacity with the Coast Guard, performs exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393,
Historical and Revision Notes
This section is new insofar as application to Coast Guard personnel in time of peace is concerned. Such awards can be made to members of the Coast Guard when the Coast Guard is operating with the Navy.
The language is parallel to that found in title 34, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §355, providing for awards to personnel of the Navy. 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—
2018—
Executive Documents
Ex. Ord. No. 12824. Establishing the Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal
Ex. Ord. No. 12824, Dec. 7, 1992, 57 F.R. 58121, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 13286, §29, Feb. 28, 2003, 68 F.R. 10625; Ex. Ord. No. 13569, §1, Apr. 5, 2011, 76 F.R. 19891, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, it is ordered as follows:
§2737. Silver star medal
The President may award a silver star medal of appropriate design, with ribbons and appurtenances, to an individual who, while serving in any capacity with the Coast Guard, when the Coast Guard is not operating under the Department of the Navy, is cited for gallantry in action that does not warrant a medal of honor or Coast Guard cross—
(1) while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;
(2) while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force or international terrorist organization; or
(3) while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.
(Added
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—
2018—
§2738. Distinguished flying cross
The President may present, but not in the name of Congress, a distinguished flying cross of appropriate design, with accompanying ribbon, to any individual who, while serving in any capacity with the Coast Guard, displays heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight.
(Added Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, §12(a),
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—
2018—
2010—
§2739. Coast Guard medal
The President may present, but not in the name of Congress, a medal to be known as the Coast Guard medal, of appropriate design, with accompanying ribbon, together with a rosette or other device to be worn in lieu thereof, to any individual who, while serving in any capacity with the Coast Guard, displays heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393,
Historical and Revision Notes
This section establishes a new medal to be known as the Coast Guard Medal, which is intended to be a parallel award to the Navy and Marine Corps Medal of the Navy, to be awarded under the same circumstances as that medal is awarded to personnel of the Navy (see title 34, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §356b). 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—
2018—
§2740. Insignia for additional awards
No more than one Coast Guard cross, distinguished service medal, silver star medal, distinguished flying cross, or Coast Guard medal shall be issued to any one individual; but for each succeeding deed or service sufficient to justify the awarding of a Coast Guard cross, distinguished service medal, silver star medal, distinguished flying cross, or Coast Guard medal, the President may award a suitable emblem or insignia to be worn with the decoration and a corresponding rosette or other device.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393,
Historical and Revision Notes
This section is supplemental to the preceding sections dealing with the award of medals and regulates the award of additional medals of the same kind. It follows the established practice in all the armed forces (see title 34, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §358). 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—
2018—
2014—
2010—
1956—Act Aug. 10, 1956, included the distinguished flying cross.
§2741. Time limit on award; report concerning deed
(a) No medal of honor, Coast Guard cross, distinguished service medal, silver star medal, distinguished flying cross, Coast Guard medal, or bar, emblem, or insignia in lieu thereof may be awarded to an individual unless—
(1) the award is made within five years after the date of the deed or service justifying the award;
(2) a statement setting forth the deed or distinguished service and recommending official recognition of it was made by his superior through official channels within three years from the date of that deed or termination of the service.
(b) If the Secretary determines that—
(1) a statement setting forth the deed or distinguished service and recommending official recognition of it was made by the individual's superior through official channels within three years from the date of that deed or termination of the service and was supported by sufficient evidence within that time; and
(2) no award was made, because the statement was lost or through inadvertence the recommendation was not acted upon; a medal of honor, Coast Guard cross, distinguished service medal, silver star medal, distinguished flying cross, Coast Guard medal, or bar, emblem, or insignia in lieu thereof, as the case may be, may be awarded to the individual within two years after the date of that determination.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393,
Historical and Revision Notes
This section establishes a time limit on the making of awards. It follows the established practice in all the armed forces (see title 10, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §1409 and title 34, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §360). 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—Subsec. (a).
Subsec. (b)(1).
Subsec. (b)(2).
2018—
2010—Subsec. (a).
Subsec. (b)(2).
1962—
§2742. Honorable subsequent service as condition to award
No medal of honor, Coast Guard cross, distinguished service medal, silver star medal, distinguished flying cross, Coast Guard medal, or emblem, or insignia in lieu thereof shall be awarded or presented to any individual, or to the representative of any individual, whose entire service subsequent to the time of the acts resulting in the consideration of such award shall not in the opinion of the Commandant have been honorable.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393,
Historical and Revision Notes
This section makes honorable service subsequent to the act for which award is made, a condition precedent to granting the award. The Navy has the same statutory condition (see title 34, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §362). 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—
2018—
2010—
1956—Act Aug. 10, 1956, included the distinguished flying cross.
§2743. Posthumous awards
In case an individual who dies before the making of any award to which such individual may be entitled, as authorized in this chapter, the award may be made and presented within five years from the date of the act or service justifying the award to such next of kin as may have been designated by the individual, or in the absence of such designation, or if the designated individual is not alive at the time of the award, or the relationship between such individual and the serviceman shall have been terminated before his death, then to such representative as the President designates. In the event of a posthumous award when the award will be made to the parents of the deceased and the parents have been divorced or separated, a duplicate award may be made to each parent.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393,
Historical and Revision Notes
This section sets forth the conditions under which posthumous awards can be made. It is substantially the same as conditions for the Navy, but has the added provision for duplicate awards in case the parents are divorced or separated (see title 34, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §363). 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—
2018—
§2744. Life-saving medals
(a) The Secretary may, under regulations prescribed by him, award a Life-saving medal of gold or silver to any individual, including personnel of the Coast Guard, who rescues or endeavors to rescue any other individual from drowning, shipwreck, or other peril of the water in accordance with the following provisions:
(1) if such rescue or attempted rescue is made at the risk of one's own life and evidences extreme and heroic daring, the medal shall be of gold;
(2) if such rescue or attempted rescue is not sufficiently distinguished to deserve the medal of gold, but evidences the exercise of such signal exertion as to merit recognition, the medal shall be of silver.
(b) In order for an individual to be eligible for the Life-saving Medals the rescue or attempted rescue must take place in waters within the United States or subject to the jurisdiction thereof, or if the rescue or attempted rescue takes place outside such waters, one or the other of the parties must be a citizen of the United States or from a vessel or aircraft owned or operated by citizens of the United States.
(c) No individual shall receive more than one gold medal and one silver medal; but any individual who has received or may hereafter receive a gold or silver medal and who again performs an act which would entitle him to receive another medal of the same class may be awarded, in lieu of a second medal of the same class, a gold or silver bar, as the case may be, to be worn with the medal already bestowed, and for every such additional act, an additional bar may be awarded. Medals and bars in lieu thereof, authorized by this subsection, may be awarded posthumously.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393,
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 14, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §§193, 194, 195, 196 (June 20, 1874, ch. 344, §7,
Said sections have been rewritten so as to make the awarding of Life-saving medals turn on whether or not the United States has an interest in the heroic act, rather than on technical jurisdictional grounds. Under existing law the award of a medal could be made in any case in which the rescuer or the rescued was a citizen of the United States, or was from a vessel owned or operated by the United States regardless of where the rescue took place; and if the rescue took place within waters of the United States the award could be made to an alien.
The existing law relating to the Treasury Department Life-Saving Medal contained in title 14, U.S.C., 1946, ed., §§192–196, has long needed revision. The existing law is composed of a series of statutes enacted separately between 1874 and 1897, and the result has not been entirely unsatisfactory. The original statute, enacted in 1874 (title 14, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §193), provided for Life-saving medals of the first and second class to be bestowed "upon any persons who shall hereafter endanger their own lives in saving, or endeavoring to save lives from the perils of the sea, within the United States, or upon any American vessel". The medal of the first class was confined to cases of "extreme and heroic daring" and the medal of the second class was to be awarded "in cases not sufficiently distinguished to deserve the medal of the first class" Then in 1878 another act was passed (title 14, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §194) authorizing the bestowal of the medal of the second class "upon persons making such signal exertions in rescuing and succoring the shipwrecked, and saving persons from drowning" as, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury, merited recognition. These two sections were construed by the Attorney General to be limited to the rescue of persons who were subjected to the perils of the sea in any waters of the United States in the vicinity of any lifeboat station, life-saving station, or house of refuge. And the person upon whom the medal could be bestowed was limited to members of life-saving crews. (1895) Op. Att. Gen. 124. Thereupon, in 1897, an act was passed which provided that the two earlier acts should "be construed so as to empower the Secretary of the Treasury to bestow such medals upon persons making signal exertions in rescuing and succoring the shipwrecked and saving persons from drowning in waters over which the United States has jurisdiction, whether the said persons making such exertions were or were not members of the Life-Saving Service or whether or not such exertions were made in the vicinity of a life-saving station". (Title 14, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §196.) This act was designed to give a more liberal application to the two earlier acts, and all three were to be read as one. (1900) 23 Op. Atty. Gen. 78. However, difficult questions of interpretation have arisen because of the different jurisdictional language in the three acts. For example, title 14, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §193, refers to rescues "within the United States", while title 14, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §196, refers to rescues "in the waters over which the United States has jurisdiction". The need for clarification is obvious. Subsection (a) authorizes the awarding of the medal to any person, including Coast Guard personnel, who rescues or endeavors to rescue any person from drowning, shipwreck, or peril of the water. If the rescue or attempted rescue is at the risk of one's own life and evidences extreme and heroic daring, the medal shall be of gold, and if the rescue or attempted rescue is not sufficiently distinguished to deserve the gold medal, but evidences the exertion of such signal exertion as to merit recognition, the medal shall be of silver. Thus, the acts for which the medals are to be awarded are defined simply and without any geographical or jurisdictional limitations. The difficulty with the existing law is the attempt to define the required deed together with those limitations. Subsection (a) does not change existing law insofar as the type of act necessary for the medals is concerned; it merely simplifies and clarifies existing law.
Subsection (b) contains the jurisdictional limitations on the awarding of the medal and broadens, to a considerable extent, the provisions of existing law. It is the intent of this subsection to authorize the awarding of a medal in all cases where the United States has a legitimate interest in recognizing meritorious acts, such as where a United States citizen performs the act, or where a United States citizen is rescued, or where United States waters or United States vessels or aircraft are involved. Accordingly, rescues by United States citizens anywhere in the world will be recognized. Any person, including persons not citizens of the United States, may receive medals if the rescue or attempted rescue takes place in waters within the United States or subject to its jurisdiction or, in cases of rescues outside such waters, if either the rescuer or the person rescued is from a United States vessel or aircraft, or the person rescued is a United States citizen. Thus, every case in which the United States government has an interest is provided for. A United States citizen who performs a heroic act sufficient to justify a medal in state waters, or in foreign waters, could not receive one under existing law, but could receive such award under this proposed revision. The awarding of medals should not turn on technical jurisdictional grounds; it should turn rather on the interest of the United States to recognize noble and heroic acts.
Subsection (c) dealing with the awarding of bars for additional acts, clarifies, but does not change title 14, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §195, except that authority is granted to award medals posthumously. 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—Subsec. (a).
Subsec. (b).
Subsec. (c).
2018—
1976—Subsec. (a).
§2745. Replacement of medals
In those cases where a medal, or a bar, emblem, or insignia in lieu thereof, awarded pursuant to this chapter has been stolen, lost, destroyed, or rendered unfit for use without fault or neglect on the part of the individual to whom it was awarded, such medal, or bar, emblem, or insignia in lieu thereof, shall be replaced without charge, or, in the discretion of the Secretary, upon condition that the Government is reimbursed for the cost thereof.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393,
Historical and Revision Notes
This section provides for the replacement of medals. It follows the established practice of the other armed forces, but makes an additional provision that the Secretary in his discretion may charge for the replacement medals in some circumstances. (See title 10, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §1416 and title 34, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §359.) 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—
2018—
2001—
§2746. Award of other medals
Coast Guard personnel, notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, may be awarded medals, bars, emblems, or insignia to which such personnel may be entitled under other provisions of law.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393,
Historical and Revision Notes
This section insures that the preceding sections are not intended to prevent Coast Guard military personnel from receiving other medals, the legion of merit, for example. 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2018—
Executive Documents
Meritorious Service Medal
Medal established as an award for outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the United States, see Ex. Ord. No. 11448, Jan. 16, 1969, 34 F.R. 915, as amended, set out as a note preceding
§2747. Awards and insignia for excellence in service or conduct
The Coast Guard may award trophies, badges, and cash prizes to Coast Guard personnel or groups thereof, including personnel of the reserve components thereof whether or not on active duty, for excellence in accomplishments related to Coast Guard service, to incur such expenses as may be necessary to enter such personnel in competitions, and to provide badges or buttons in recognition of special service, good conduct, and discharge under conditions other than dishonorable.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393,
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on the following language contained in the Coast Guard appropriation act for 1949, "Pay and Allowances" and preceding years: "not exceeding $10,000 for cash prizes for men for excellence in boatmanship, gunnery, target practice, and engineering competitions" (June 19, 1948, ch. 558,
This section expands the language contained in the appropriation act to include the awarding of trophies and badges, and to include in the accomplishments for which such awards may be made, excellence in any field related to Coast Guard duty. 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2018—
§2748. Presentation of United States flag upon retirement
(a)
(b)
(c)
(Added
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2018—
2012—Subsec. (a).
2002—Subsec. (a).
Subsec. (c).
1999—Subsec. (b).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2002 Amendment
Amendment by
Effective Date
Section applicable with respect to releases from active duty described in this section and