- Established
- 1918
- Awarded by
- Army
- Criteria
- Extraordinary heroism in combat against an enemy, not justifying the Medal of Honor.
- Precedence
- #2 of 18 in this guide · below Medal of Honor · above Navy Cross
Created in 1918 as the United States entered the fighting in France, the Distinguished Service Cross became the Army’s second-highest award for valor and the first step of the “pyramid of honor” below the Medal of Honor. Many Medals of Honor awarded decades after the fact were upgrades of DSCs.
From Wikipedia
The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is the United States Army's second highest military decoration for soldiers who display extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. Actions that merit the Distinguished Service Cross must be of such a high degree that they are above those required for all other U.S. combat decorations, but which do not meet the criteria for the Medal of Honor.
Excerpt from “Distinguished Service Cross (United States)” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Notable recipients
- John McCain1936–2018 · Vietnam War
- Douglas MacArthur Medal of Honor too1880–1964 · World War I
- George S. Patton1885–1945 · World War I
- John J. Pershing1860–1948 · World War I
- Vasily Chuikov1900–1982 · Russian Civil War
- Audie Murphy Medal of Honor too1925–1971 · World War II
- Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis1891–1969 · World War I
- Alexander Haig1924–2010 · Korean War
- Paul Tibbets1915–2007 · World War II
- Mark W. Clark1896–1984 · World War I
- Dwight Filley Davis Sr.1879–1945 · World War I
- Curtis LeMay1906–1990 · Korean War
- Richard Winters1918–2011 · World War II
- Creighton Abrams1914–1974 · Korean War
- Maxwell D. Taylor1901–1987 · Korean War
Images: medal (Public domain, en:User:Shischkabob); ribbon (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.
