Spanish-American War

Military decorations

The Spanish-American War was regarded by both Spain and the United States as the first major conflict of modern warfare, leading into the technology of warfare that would be witnessed by the 20th century. As such, to recognize military participation in the conflict, a wide range of awards and decorations were created by all the powers involved to be bestowed upon those who had served in the Spanish-American War.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the United States, the Spanish-American War was the first military conflict to be recognized by a wide range of service medals. The Medal of Honor also saw its first resurgence since the Civil War and the conflict saw the first wide scale recognition of individual acts of bravery by soldiers, marines, and sailors alike.

Related Topics:
Medal of Honor - Civil War

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The United States awards and decorations of the Spanish-American War were as follows:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Medal of Honor (Extreme Acts of Heroism or Bravery)
• Specially Meritorious Service Medal (Navy and Marine Corps Meritorious Actions)
• Spanish Campaign Medal (General Service)
• West Indies Campaign Medal (West Indies Naval Service)
• Sampson Medal (West Indies service under Admiral Sampson)
• Dewey Medal (Battle of Manila Bay Service)
• Spanish War Service Medal (U.S. Army Homeland Service)
• Army of Puerto Rican Occupation Medal (Post-War Occupation Duty)
• Army of Cuban Occupation Medal (Post-War Occupation Duty)

The Spanish Campaign Medal was upgradeable to include the Silver Citation Star to recognize those U.S. Army members who had performed individual acts of heroism. The governments of Spain and Cuba also issued a wide variety of military awards to honor Spanish, Cuban, and Philippine soldiers who had served in the conflict.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~