The Coast Guard Medal is a

decoration Decoration may refer to: * Decorative arts * A house painter and decorator's craft * An act or object intended to increase the beauty of a person, room, etc. * An award that is a token of recognition to the recipient intended for wearing Other ...

of the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

that is awarded to any service member who, while serving in any capacity with the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

, distinguishes themselves by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy. For the decoration to be awarded, an individual must have performed a voluntary act of heroism in the face of great personal danger or of such a magnitude that it stands out distinctly above normal expectations. The Coast Guard Medal was first authorized by on 4 August 1949, but it was not until 1958 that the medal was actually bestowed. The first recipients of the Coast Guard Medal were FN Earl H. Leyda and BM3 Albert Raymond Johnson who were awarded the decoration in March 1958. The citation for the Coast Guard Medal was for actions performed in August 1957 while attempting to rescue trapped workers from the Oswego Water Works Tunnel, under

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

, in

Oswego, New York Oswego () is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 35 miles (55km) northwest of Syracuse. It promotes itself as "The Port C ...

. Additional awards of the Coast Guard Medal are annotated by inch gold stars. The Coast Guard Medal is the equivalent to the Army's

Soldier's Medal The Soldier's Medal is an individual decoration of the United States Army. It was introduced as Section 11 of the Air Corps Act, passed by the Congress of the United States on July 2, 1926., Appendix 5, p. 126. The Army' Soldier's Medal is equiv ...

, the

Navy and Marine Corps Medal The Navy and Marine Corps Medal is the highest non-combat decoration awarded for heroism by the United States Department of the Navy to members of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. The medal was established by an act of Congr ...

, and the Air and Space Forces'

Airman's Medal The Airman's Medal (AmnM) is a military award and decoration of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force for personnel who distinguish themselves by heroism involving voluntary risk of their life not involving actual combat with ...

Notable recipients

* Richard R. Callahan *

Edgar Culbertson Edgar A. Culbertson (October 13, 1935 – April 30, 1967) was a United States Coast Guard Boatswain's Mate First Class (BM1) who died while trying to rescue three teenage brothers during a fierce storm in Duluth, Minnesota. Rescue Meteorologists ...

* Richard Dixon * William Flores * Michael P. Leavitt * David M. Lorange * Ronald C. Prei * Terrell E. Horne *

Tristan Heaton Tristan (Latin/Brythonic: ''Drustanus''; cy, Trystan), also known as Tristram or Tristain and similar names, is the hero of the legend of Tristan and Iseult. In the legend, he is tasked with escorting the Irish princess Iseult to wed T ...

Jacob Poroo Jacob Poroo (December 1, 1938 - June 18, 1968) was a medic for the United States Coast Guard who died of burns suffered when fire struck the remote Alaskan base he was assigned to. On 2 June 1968, the recreation hall of the Loran station at Ad ...

* Robert Earl Hill * Traci Huddleston * Tracy Mannes

References

{{USCG decorations Awards and decorations of the United States Coast Guard Awards established in 1949 Courage awards

Notable recipients

See also

References