Spanish American War
West Indies Naval
Campaign
Special Meritorious
Service Medal
Contributed by Tim
Wilson
Please Visit our Home
Page to learn more about the Spanish American War
The Spanish Campaign Navy Special Meritorious Service Medal was
authorized by Congress on march 3, 1901 and was meant to be issued to
qualifiying individuals for acts of valor done between May 1 and August
16, 1898. This medals was to be issue to mebers of the Navy and Marines to
commemorate "heroic and conspicuous service, other than in battle in the
West Indies Campaign. Most were issued to men involved in the rescue of
Spanish crewmen after the Battle of Santiago.
The medal is in the form of a maltese cross. In the center is a fouled
anchor, surrounded by a wreath of oak and laurel (representing strength
and victory respectively). In the circle around the wreath are the words
" * U.S. NAVAL CAMPAIGN * WEST INDIES." On the arms at the cross,
beginning at the left, are the following words: "SPECIALLY,"
"MERITORIOUS," "SERVICE," and "1898."
The reverse side (right, above) was left blank to allow for the
inscribing of the recipient's name indication of the act for which it
was gained.
Bibliography:
(As a service to our readers, clicking on title in red
will take you to that book on Amazon.com)
Strandberg, LTC John E., and Roger James
Bender, The Call of Duty. 2nd Edition (San Jose, CA: R.
James Bender Publishing, 2004).
Support this
Site by Visiting the Website Store! (help
us defray costs!)
We are providing
the following service for our readers. If you are interested in
books, videos, CD's etc. related to the Spanish American War, simply
type in "Spanish American War" (or whatever you are interested in)
as the keyword and click on "go" to get a list of titles available
through Amazon.com.
Visit Main Page
for copyright data
Return to Main Page