Figure 23: Interior of the case in Figure 22.

Figure 25: Interior of the case in Figure 24.

Figure 24: Exterior of a current case.

Figure 26: Manufacturer’s label for the cardboard box

containing the case in Figure 24.

contain a ribbon bar or lapel pin. It measures 4 7/8 inches (length) x 2 inches (width) x 7/8 inches (depth). A current case is shown at Figures 24 (closed) and Figure 25 (open). This case is contained in a slightly larger cardboard box (Figure 26) reflecting manufacturing data.

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Officer grade (Figure 27 (front view); Figure 28 (side view). It measures ¾ inches (length) x 3/8 inch (diameter at widest point). A lapel pin for the Legion of Merit Legionnaire grade is shown in Figure 29. It measures 11 / 16 inches (length) x 1/8 (width of metal ribbon).

Recipients

Figure 27: Front view of a lapel pin for the Legion

of Merit in the degree of Officer.

Figure 28: Side view of the lapel pin in Figure 27.

Numbers awarded and analysis of awards made. During World War II the Army awarded 20,273 Legions of Merit. As of June 30, 1947, the Navy (including the Marine Corps and Coast Guard) had awarded 3,936.

After the war, an analysis was conducted of the policies and wactices of awarding military decorations.23 The Navy was of the opinion that there had been no serious errors in awarding the Legion of Merit, while the Army believed that failure to indicate the basis for the award with sufficient clarity "resulted in varying conceptions in the field as to its purpose and standards." The broad Army policy of awarding the Legion of Merit to personnel "who shall distinguish themselves by performing all duties to which they may be assigned in an exceptionally meritorious manner, or by long and exceptionally faithful service in any capacity" resulted in some interesting disparities. The actual distribution of awards by the Army during World War II is very interesting (Table 1)

Figure 29: Lapel pin for the Legion of Merit in the

degree of Legionnaire.

Lapel pins

The close up of the lapel pin for the Legion of Merit

First awards. The first Legion of Merit to an American went to Navy nurse Lieutenant (junior grade) Ann Agnes Bernatitus. She was the only member of the Navy medical staff to escape from Bataan and Corregidor after the Japanese attack on the Philippines in December 1941. Her award was approved by Rear Admiral Randall

Jacobs, the Chief of Naval Personnel on October 14, 1942 and subsequently approved by President Roosevelt. Interestingly, when she received the award she only received the ribbon bar.

The first foreign recipient of the Legion of Merit in the grade of Legionnaire was Lieutenant DeVaisseau A. Bergeret of the Free French Navy, whose award was approved on October 27, 1942. The first recipient of the Legion of Merit in the grade of Officer was Colonel

Table 1: Distribution of Army Legion of Merit awards during World War IL

Grade of Recipient Number of Awards Percent of Total Enlisted 3,114 15.36 Company Grade Officers* 2,185 10.78 Field Grade Officers 13,648 67.32 General Officers 1,326 6.54

*Includes Warrant Officers, Flight Officers, Junior Officers, and Army Nurse Corps and Women’s Army Corps officers.

gol. 59, No.2 21

Johannes K. Meijer of the Royal Netherlands Army in Suriname.

The first recipient of the Legion of Merit in the grade

of Commander was General Amaro Soares Bittencourt, the Brazilian Army Attach~ in Washington. His award was announced in GO No. 5, War Department, 1943. An interesting footnote to this event: prior to presenting the medal, General Heard had an aide buy a gold wedding band to be used to attach the medal to the neck cravat.

The award to General Bittencourt was the first award actually presented to a foreign recipient. On November 5, 1942 the Assistant Chief of Staff (G-2), General I<honer, sent a message to then Colonel Heard in which he was instructed to make the presentation on behalf of the President and the Secretary of war. Heard was also instructed that "...neither the AIC, MIS or G-2 figure in the publicity." Heard was ordered to acknowledge this message and to provide a detailed report of the presentation. Heart submitted his report to General Kroner on November 11, 1942 and informed him that the ceremony took place on Saturday afternoon, November 7, 1942 at Miami Beach, Florida. During the award ceremony Heard made the following comments:

General Amaro, by direction of the Secretary of War and Chief of Staff of the United States Army, I have the great honor and pleasure to present to you, on the behalf of the President of the United States, this Legion of Merit in the degree of Commander. You are the first foreigner to receive the award of this high decoration, inspired by General George Washington through his creation of the Badge for Military Merit in 1782. This award not only recognizes your especially meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services while Brazilian MilitaryAttach~ to the United States, but also testifies to the warm friendship and mutual respect of the people of the United States for the People of Brazil. May you ever be reminded, as you wear upon your breast the ribbon of the Legion of Merit, that it bespeaks the admiration and esteem of your North American brothers in arms have for you and voices their high regard for the great Brazilian Army.’-~-

The first recipient of the Legion of Merit in the grade of Chief Commander was Sir Kenneth A.N. Anderson, the British Army commander in North Africa. GO No. 38, War Department, 1943, announced that Chiang Kai-Shek had been awarded the Chief Commander degree, and he received it on July 7, 1943 (after General Stillwell received his award of the Chief Commander).

Illustrative awards to United States personnel. A superb example of a Legion of Merit awarded to a junior

Figure 30: Sergeant Cnrtis G. Culin III and the plow-like

cutter blvention that earned him the Legion of Merit.

noncommissioned officer is the award presented to Sergeant Curtis G. Culin III. After landing in No~anandy in June 1944, Culin invented a plow-like cutter that, when attached to the from of a tank, would slice through a hedgerow. Since these six to 10-foot-high hedgerows surrounding farnas and roads were wreaking havoc on the Allied advance in Normandy, Culin’s invention was the perfect solution.

General Omar Bradley directed that Culin’s invention be produced immediately; almost three hundred of them were manufactured and they acquired the nickname "rhino cutter" because of their appearance. Culin and his invention are illustrated in Figure 30; his reward was recognition with a Legion of Merit Legionnaire.24

Another World War II example of a Legion of Merit recipient is Colonel Alexander Nielson (Figure 31). Nielson received his decoration for his service as a District Engineer on Luzon, Philippine Islands, in 1945. He was a colonel in the Army Corps of Engineers.

A Vietnam War Marine Corps officer recipient is Major General James L. Day (Figure 32), who received the award while serving as a major in Vietnam from May 1966 to May 1967. Day, who also received three Silver Stars and two Purple Hearts, received his Legion of Merit with "V" for "exceptionally meritorious conduct ... as the Executive Officer and Commanding Officer

of the First Battalion, Ninth Marines" and Assistant

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