Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-12-24
SIMS AND DANIELS
LETTERS ON DECORA-
TONS IN NAVY
Continued from Third Page

great responsibility" next. we have
the Navy cross, which may be
awarded for heroic conduct not 'be
yond the call of duty" or for dis
tinguished service" of less character
or responsibility than that for
which the distinguished service
medal would be awarded.
From this it is evident that the
award of the distinguished service
medal involves the performance of
duty in a distinguished manner,
and this duty must at the same
time be one of great responsibility.
The Navy cross can be awarded
for either heroic conduct, distin-
guished service or combination of
the two.
Careful attention to the above
requirements of law will indicate
why the number of officers and men
who got the distinguished service
medal is comparatively small, and
this will also indicate why the Navy
cross list is relatively large. But
it must be fully realized that the
Navy cross is a medal of very high
order and one which any officer or
man should be proud to wear, when
awarded, as was the purpose, for
services in keeping with the law
which authorized the medal
The recommendations of the va
rious commanding officers show the
wide differences in the opinions of
tnose officers as to what constitutes
distinguished service in positions
of great responsibility" One will
think that certain aids on his staff
have performed duty of this kind:
another will seem to think that the
commanding officer of any ship,
whether in the war zone or not.
comes in this class
Would Apply Real Test.
The real test of the merits of these
duties is found in the answer.
whether or not the performance of
the duty was decidedly above the
average. and above what should
ordinarily be expected of an efficient
ofhcer in the performance of his
duties In the enforcement of this
rue there must be, of course, diff
ference Of opinion. The board in
many instances did not follow the
recommendations of the commanding
In acting upon the large number
OF reports and recommendations for
decorations it is necessary to exer-
else care that these medals should
not be so literally distributed as to
materially lessen their value, yet, at
the same time, extreme care should
De exercised to prevent any injustice
and, with this idea in mind, the med
ais were awarded in accordance with
the policies above outlined.
My judgment is that individual
duties ashore are always and neces-
sarily of second Importance to duties
afoat. There are a few exceptions
as in the instances of service of the
highest character The Navy exists
on sea. The only excuse for any ma
val officer being on shore at all is
that certain number must perform
shore duties in order to furnish sup
plies and plan for the maintenance
and operation of the fleet. I well I'M
derstand that there may be those
who place certain shore service as
paramount.
My attitude has always been in
marked contrast to the policy of
magnifying shore duty. l believe
the service worthy of the highest
distinction is that rendered afioat
in the presence of the enemy. 1t
is also true that there are those
who in the Navy place all char
acter Of staff duty, even on shore,
above command of ships afloat 1
emphatically dissent from such
view and cannot be governed by it.
1t is realized that where there
have been so many occasions of
performance of meritorious service
by the 100000 officers and men in
the Navy in the great war there
may easily be differences of opinion
in regard to the comparative merit
of any particular case, but. under
the law and acting by the author
ity Of the President, it is the Secre-
tary of the Navys duty to make
the final decision in such cases. 1t
is believed, however. that the mo-
tives and policies as above outlined
have been entirely in keeping with
the letter and spirit of the law
which established these medals and
decorations for the Navy Later re-
ports and additional informa ton
will be given due consideration in
future action with reference to ad-
ditional awards, for there is no
limit of time prescribed when
these honors may be conferred In
view Of delayed reports and lack
of data other awards will be made,
but in every case the principles
above set forth will guide execu-
tive action. Sincerely yours,
JOSEPHUS DANIELS.