Type Individual award Established August 8, 1946 | Eligibility Merchant mariners | |
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Awarded for Service during World War II Campaign(s) World War II (1941-1945) Next (higher) Merchant Marine Pacific War Zone Medal | ||
The Merchant Marine World War II Victory Medal is a decoration of the United States Merchant Marine established by an Act of Congress on August 8, 1946.
Contents
Conditions
The decoration is awarded to officers and men of the U.S. Merchant Marine who served aboard American-flagged merchant ships for at least 30 days between December 7, 1941, and September 3, 1945.
Design
The medal is a bronze disc suspended from a ribbon with wide red edges and a red center flanked by narrow stripes of yellow, green, blue, and white. The front of the medal shows a woman standing in a desert landscape holding a trident in her right hand and an olive branch in her left hand. To the left of the woman is the word "WORLD" and to the right of her is "WAR II". The reverse side shows an anchor inside a rope circle, around which is wound a ribbon marked "FIRMITAS", "ADVERSARIA", and "SUPERAT" (Latin for "The strength to overcome an adversary"). In a circle around the edge of the reverse side are the words "UNITED STATES MERCHANT MARINE 1941-1945".
John R. Sinnock designed the medal.