Portal:United States Navy/Selected article/6

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States. It is awarded "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in actual combat against an armed enemy force." Three different medals currently exist for each of the major branches of the U.S. armed forces: one each for the Army, Navy (pictured), and Air Force. Since the beginning of World War II, only 851 have been awarded, 525 of them posthumously. The Medal of Honor is often presented personally to the recipient or, in the case of posthumous awards, to survivors, by the President of the United States. The rare soldier who wears the Medal of Honor is accorded special privileges that include higher pay, supplemental uniform allowance, special entitlements to air transportation, preference for their children at the U.S. military academies, and the respect and admiration of all other service-people. It is an informal rule that Medal of Honor recipients, regardless of rank, are saluted by all other service members, including the Commander-in-Chief. The Medal is one of only two American military awards worn around the neck; the other is the Commander's Degree of the Legion of Merit. The Medal of Honor is the only service decoration that is singled out in federal law to protect it from being imitated or privately sold. All Medals of Honor are issued in the original only, by the Department of Defense, to a recipient. Misuse of the medal, including unauthorized manufacture or wear, is punishable by fine and imprisonment. The Navy Medal of Honor was first awarded to Seaman Benjamin Swearer during the American Civil War and was last officially awarded to Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class David R. Ray, USN for action that occurred during the Vietnam War in 1969.