Being taken prisoner and held captive while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict against an opposing foreign force; while serving with friendly forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force to which the United States is not a belligerent; or under circumstances not covered by [the 1985 statute] but which the Secretary concerned finds were comparable to those circumstances under which persons have generally been held captive by enemy armed forces during periods of armed conflict.[1]
Presented by
the Department of Defense[2]
Eligibility
Personnel serving in any capacity with the U.S. Armed Forces[1]
Status
Active
Established
Pub.L. 99–145, 99 Stat. 665, 10 USC 1028, enacted November 8, 1985, amended by Pub.L. 101–189, enacted November 29, 1989,[3] amended by Pub.L. 112–239, enacted January 2, 2013.
First awarded
April 5, 1917 (retroactive)
Prisoner of War Ribbon
Precedence
Next (higher)
Army: Achievement Medals Naval Service: Navy "E" Ribbon Air and Space Forces: Air and Space Organizational Excellence Award Coast Guard: Coast Guard Bicentennial Unit Commendation
Next (lower)
Army, Naval Service, and Marine Corps: Good Conduct Medal Air and Space Forces: Combat Readiness Medal
The Prisoner of War Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on 8 November 1985. The United States Code citation for the POW Medal statute is 10 U.S.C. § 1128.
The Prisoner of War Medal may be awarded to any person who was a prisoner of war after April 5, 1917 (the date of the United States' entry into World War I was April 6). It is awarded to any person who was taken prisoner or held captive while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing Armed Force; or while serving with friendly forces engaged in armed conflict against an opposing Armed Force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. As of an amendment to Title 10 of the United States Code in 2013, the medal is also awarded for captivity under circumstances "which the Secretary concerned finds were comparable to those circumstances under which persons have generally been held captive by enemy armed forces during periods of armed conflict."[4] The person's conduct, while in captivity, must have been honorable. This medal may be awarded posthumously to the surviving next of kin of the recipient.
No more than one Prisoner of War Medal may be awarded. For any subsequent award of the medal, service stars will be awarded and worn on the suspension and service ribbon of the medal.[1]
The medal was designed by Jay C. Morris of the United States Army Institute of Heraldry.
^ abc"Army Regulation 600–8–22 Military Awards" (PDF). 15 September 2011. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
^"DOD MANUAL 1348.33, VOLUME 2 : MANUAL OF MILITARY DECORATIONS AND AWARDS: DOD SERVICE AWARDS – CAMPAIGN, EXPEDITIONARY, AND SERVICE MEDALS" (PDF). Esd.whs.mil. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
^Amended by Pub. L. 101-189, 103 Stat. 1688, 10 USC 1028, enacted November. 29, 1989. Additional details and descriptions given at 32 CFR 578.22.
^"Sec. 583. Issuance of the Prisoner-of-War Medal," H.R. 4310, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Enrolled Bill as Passed by Both House and Senate, passed January 2, 2013), p. 136-37.
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