The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military award of the United States Army that is presented to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the United States military, has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility. The performance must be such as to merit recognition for service that is clearly exceptional. Exceptional performance of normal duty will not alone justify an award of this decoration.
Separate Distinguished Service Medals exist for the different branches of the military as well as a fifth version of the medal which is a senior award of the United States Department of Defense. The Army version of the Distinguished Service Medal is typically referred to simply as the "Distinguished Service Medal" while the other branches of service use the service name as a prefix.
For service not related to actual war, the term "duty of a great responsibility" applies to a narrower range of positions than in time of war, and requires evidence of conspicuously significant achievement. However, justification of the award may accrue by virtue of exceptionally meritorious service in a succession of high positions of great importance.
Awards may be made to persons other than members of the Armed Forces of the United States for wartime services only, and then only under exceptional circumstances, with the express approval of the President in each case.
The Coat of Arms of the United States in Gold surrounded by a circle of Dark Blue enamel, 1 ½ inches in diameter, bearing the inscription "FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MCMXVIII".
On the reverse is a scroll for the name of the recipient (which is to be engraved) upon a trophy of flags and weapons. The medal is suspended by a bar attached to the ribbon.
The ribbon is 1 3/8 inches wide and consists of the following stripes:
- 5/16 inch Scarlet 67111;
- 1/16 inch Ultramarine Blue 67118;
- 5/8 inch White 67101;
- 1/16 inch Ultramarine Blue;
- 5/16 inch Scarlet.
Additional awards of the Distinguished Service Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters.
The Distinguished Service Medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the United States Army, has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility. The performance must be such as to merit recognition for service which is clearly exceptional. Exceptional performance of normal duty will not alone justify an award of this decoration. For service not related to actual war, the term "duty of a great responsibility" applies to a narrower range of positions than in time of war and requires evidence of a conspicuously significant achievement. However, justification of the award may accrue by virtue of exceptionally meritorious service in a succession of high positions of great importance. Awards may be made to persons other than members of the Armed Forces of the United States for wartime services only, and only then under exceptional circumstances with the express approval of the President in each case.
The following are authorized components of the Distinguished Service Medal and applicable specifications:
- Decoration (regular size): MIL-D-3943/7.
- NSN for decoration set: 8455-00-444-0007.
- NSN for replacement medal is 8455-00-246-3830.
- Decoration (miniature size): MIL-D-3943/7. NSN 8455-00-996-5008.
- Ribbon: MIL-R-11589/52. NSN 8455-00-252-9922.
- Lapel Button (metal replica of ribbon bar): MIL-L-11484/4. NSN 8455-00-253-0809.
The Distinguished Service Medal was authorized by Presidential Order dated 01-02-1918, and confirmed by Congress on 07-09-1918. It was announced by War Department General Order No. 6, 1918-01-12, with the following information concerning the medal: "A bronze medal of appropriate design and a ribbon to be worn in lieu thereof, to be awarded by the President to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the Army shall hereafter distinguish himself or herself, or who, since 04-06-1917, has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility in time of war or in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United States." The Act of Congress on 07-09-1918, recognized the need for different types and degrees of heroism and meritorious service and included such provisions for award criteria. The current statutory authorization for the Distinguished Service Medal is Title 10, United States Code, Section 3743.
Among the first awards of the Distinguished Service Medal for service in World War I, were those to the Commanding Officers of the Allied Armies:
- Marshal Ferdinand Foch
- Marshal Joseph Joffre,
- General Philippe Petain of France,
- General Louis Franchet d'Espèrey of France,
- General Sir Arthur Currie of Canada,
- General Sir John Monash of Australia,
- Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig of Britain,
- General Armando Diaz of Italy,
- General Cyriaque Gillain of Belgium,
- General John Joseph Pershing - United States
- Field Marshal Živojin Mišić of Serbia
More than 2,000 awards were made during World War I, and by the time the United States entered World War II, approximately 2,800 awards had been made. From July 1, 1941 to June 6, 1969, when the Army stopped publishing awards of the DSM in Department of the Army General Orders, over 2,800 further awards were made.
Until the first award of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal in 1965, United States Air Force personnel received this award as well, as was the case with several other Army decorations until the Air Force fully established its own system of decorations.
Because the Army Distinguished Service Medal is principally awarded to general officers, a list of notable recipients would include nearly every general and admiral since 1918, many of whom received multiple awards, as well as a few civilians and sergeants major prominent for their contributions to national defense.
General Martin Dempsey has the record for the greatest number of awards received of the Army Distinguished Service Medal at six. He also received a Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, and a Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal.
Generals of the Army Douglas MacArthur and Dwight Eisenhower are tied with five awards received of the Army Distinguished Service Medal. They also each received one award of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.
Among notable recipients below flag rank are: X-1 test pilot Chuck Yeager and X-15 test pilot Robert M. White, who both received the DSM as U.S. Air Force majors; Air Force Major Rudolf Anderson, the U-2 pilot shot down during the Cuban Missile Crisis; director Frank Capra, decorated in 1945 as an Army colonel; actor James Stewart, decorated in 1945 as an Army Air Forces colonel (later Air Force Brigadier General); Col. Wendell Fertig, who led Filipino guerrillas behind Japanese lines; Col. (later Major General) John K. Singlaub, who led partisan forces in the Korean War; and Maj. Maude C. Davison, who led the "Angels of Bataan and Corregidor" during their imprisonment by the Japanese, and Colonel William S. Taylor, Program Manager Multiple Launch Rocket System. Among notable civilian recipients are Harry L. Hopkins, Robert S. McNamara and Henry L. Stimson.
Notable American and foreign recipients include:
General of the Armies John J. Pershing - Commander of the American Expeditionary Force
General of the Army George C. Marshall - US Army Chief of Staff
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur - US Army Chief of Staff
General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower - NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe
General of the Army Omar N. Bradley - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General Tasker H. Bliss - US Army Chief of Staff
General Peyton C. March - US Army Chief of Staff
General John J. Hennessey - Commander in Chief of United States Readiness Command
General John L. Hines - US Army Chief of Staff
General Malin Craig - US Army Chief of Staff
General Lyman L. Lemnitzer - NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe
General Harold K. Johnson - US Army Chief of Staff
General J. Lawton Collins - US Army Chief of Staff
General Earle G. Wheeler - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General Ann E. Dunwoody - First female US Army four star general
General Joseph Stilwell - Commander of the China Burma India Theater
General Edward C. Meyer - US Army Chief of Staff
General George S. Patton - Commander of the 3rd Army
General Mark W. Clark - Commander of the United Nations Command in Korea
General Walton Walker - Commander of the 8th Army in Korea
General Matthew B. Ridgeway - US Army Chief of Staff
General Maxwell D. Taylor - US Army Chief of Staff
General James Van Fleet - Commander of 8th Army in Korea
General William Westmoreland - US Army Chief of Staff
General Creighton Abrams - US Army Chief of Staff
General Alexander Haig - NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe
General John Shalikashvili - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General Martin E. Dempsey - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General Joseph Stilwell - Commander of the China, Burma, India Theater
General Colin Powell - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General Norman Schwarzkopf - Commander of Operation Desert Storm
General Bernard Rogers - NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe
Lieutenant General John B. Coulter - with 2 bronze oak leaf clusters in lieu of 2 subsequent awards of medal
Lieutenant General Keith M. Huber
Lieutenant General Kenneth W. Hunzeker
Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett
Lieutenant General Edward J. O'Neill - with 1 bronze oak leaf cluster in lieu of subsequent award of medal
Lieutenant General William Wilson Quinn - Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor
Major General Chester V. Clifton - Military Aide to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
Major General William J. Donovan - Founder of the Office of Strategic Services
Major General George W. Goethals - Engineer of the Panama Canal
Major General William C. Gorgas - Surgeon General of the Army
Major General Lawrence J. Fuller - Deputy Director of Defense Intelligence Agency
Major General Gladeon M. Barnes - Chief of Research and Engineering
Major General Edward Mann Lewis
Major General Henry Balding Lewis
Major General Robert McGowan Littlejohn
Major General Mason M. Patrick
Major General Arthur R. Wilson
Major General Brian C. Lein - COMMANDING GENERAL
US ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT CENTER AND SCHOOL HEALTH READINESS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes - Vice President of the United States
Brigadier General Russell W. Volckmann
Colonel Frank Capra - Movie director (received as a Colonel, Army of the United States in WW II)
Colonel Harvey Williams Cushing - Neurosurgeon
Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby - Director of the Women's Army Corps during World War II.
Colonel Herbert H. Lehman - Governor of New York and United States Senator.
Major David A. Reed - U.S. Senator for Pennsylvania, 1922, for service as a Major in Word War I.
Major Forsyth Wickes - Socialite, philanthropist and collector.
Second Lieutenant Cavalry Sedgwick Rice
Chaplain Francis P. Duffy - Chaplain of the "Fighting 69th"
Chief Warrant Officer Five John T. Schey, Jr.
Command Sergeant Major David S. Davenport - Senior Enlisted Advisor, Army Europe
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz - Chief of Naval Operations
Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey - Commander of the 3rd Fleet
Admiral Raymond A. Spruance - Commander of the 5th Fleet (later Ambassador to the Philippines)
Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr. - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Admiral William V. Pratt
Admiral Carlisle Trost - Chief of Naval Operations
Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley
Vice Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt (with oak leaf cluster)
Rear Admiral Hilary P. Jones
Rear Admiral Charles P. Plunkett
Major General Smedley Butler, USMC
General Paul X. Kelley, USMC
General Vernon E. Megee, USMC
Note - includes Army Air Service, Army Air Corps and Army Air Forces
General of the Air Force Hap Arnold - Commander of the Army Air Forces
General Jimmy Doolittle
General Edwin W. Rawlings
General Joseph McNarney
General Hoyt S. Vandenberg
General George C. Kenney
General Curtis Lemay - Air Force Chief of Staff
General Carl Spaatz - Air Force Chief of Staff
General Michael E. Ryan
Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault (with oak leaf cluster) - Leader of the Flying Tigers
Major General Billy Mitchell, USAAC - Military air power prophet
Brigadier General Chuck Yeager - Legendary test pilot
Colonel Bernt Balchen, USAF - Legendary Norwegian-American pilot and arctic explorer.
Captain John Birch, USAAF - Missionary, guerilla leader and namesake of the John Birch Society
Evangeline Booth - General of the Salvation Army
Jacqueline Cochran - Aviatrix and founder of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs)
Henry Pomeroy Davison - Director of the American Red Cross
Jane Delano - Founder of the American Red Cross Nursing Service
Harry Augustus Garfield - U.S. Fuel Administrator
Harry Hopkins - Presidential aide
Edward N. Hurley - Chairman, American Shipping Board
Robert McNamara - Secretary of Defense
Anna Howard Shaw - head of the Women's Committee of the United States Council of National Defense
Edward R. Stettinius - Director general of purchases for the War Department
John F. Stevens - Railway engineer
Henry L. Stimson - Secretary of War
Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, General (later Field Marshal), British Army
HM Albert I, King of the Belgians
Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, Field Marshal, British Army
Pietro Badoglio, General, Italian Army
William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, General, British Indian Army (during secondment to Australian Army, later promoted to Field Marshal)
Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, General (later Field Marshal), British Army
Sir Winston Churchill KG, OM, PC, CH, FRS - British Minister of Munitions (later Prime Minister)
Harry Crerar, Lieutenant General, Canadian Army
Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy
Sir Arthur Currie, Lieutenant General, British Army, commanding Canadian Corps
Georges de Bazelaire, Major General, VII Army Corps of the French Army during World War I
Sir Francis de Guingand, Major General, British Army
Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, General, French Army (later a Marshal of France)
Sir Miles Dempsey, General, British Army
Sir John Dill, Field Marshal, British Army
Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France, French Army
Arthur T. Harris, Air Chief Marshal, Royal Air Force (later a Marshal of the Royal Air Force)
Chiang Kai-shek, General, Chinese Army
Charles Mangin, General, French Army
Paul Maistre, General, French Army
Sir Richard McCreery, General, British Army
Živojin Mišić, Field Marshal, Serbian Army
Sir John Monash, General, Australian Army
Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, Field Marshal, British Army
Sir Frederick E. Morgan, Lieutenant General, British Army
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Admiral, Royal Navy (later Admiral of the Fleet)
Alexander Pokryshkin, Marshal of the Soviet Air Force
Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford, Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Frederick Sykes, Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)
Arthur Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder, Air Chief Marshal, Royal Air Force (later Marshal of the Royal Air Force)
Sir Henry Worth Thornton, Major General, British Army (American born)
Gerald Trotter, Brigadier-General, British Army
Sir Thomas Andrew Alexander Montgomery-Cuninghame, 10th Baronet of Corsehill, Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, Military Attache, British Army
Maxime Weygand, General, French Army
