Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-12-24

all concerned if l furnished you TOT
your information all the recon-
mendationS which have Deen hlaos
by various naval officers IN resaro
to medals for officers and men un-
der their command. in addltloii ~
board AS there is large amount
of papers and correspondence COW
ering this subject. 1t is neceSSdr!
to codify and tabulate IN oroer
that you might easily arrive at All
understanding of the sl.ualtoad
and | am, therefore, not yet ape ~
send you a complete report with an
the recommendations. etc, put
will do so at the earliest posslole
date. =;
Feeling that you would desire IN,
formatjon covering the policy and
standard which governed me IN my
review of the recomme ndatlOnS OIL
the knight board, and in awarding
the medals. l have decided 10 SEM
you my letter of DecempeT 10,
above mentioned, without holding
il longer nending the codification
of the aforementioned report ana
papers, which will follow in lew
days. Very sincerely yours.
JOSEPHUS DANIELS.
The Original Letter.
December 10, 1919.
My dear Senator Page:
Your letter requesting to be Iur-
n.shed with a copy of the report oi
the board on the award OF haTaI
medals was duly received anu
am inclosing herewith a copy OF
the boards report, which shows the
names of the officers and men OF
the Navy and Marine Corps when
the board recommended for the
award of the three Navy medals
authorized by law. The inclosed
distinguished service medal nst,
marked "A" will show In every
case the action recommendeu os
the board and the award maze py
executive action. There is also
given the awards of the Navy
crosses In addition to tn!s' tne
board also recommended that IN
certain specified cases letters oi
commentator should be addressed
to certain officers and men. rms
latter list is long and l assume
that it is not embraced in your re-
ouest and. therefore. it Is not IN
closed However, I will furnish
this to your committee II you SO
desire.
In connection with this subject
would invite attention to the iact
that. in accordance with the law
establishing the medals, the award
If the medals is a function of the
executive branch of the govern
mont and is at the discretion OF the
President.
Furthermore, ] desire to empha-
size the fact that this board or
awards was established by my
order and it's Recommendations
were only for the information or
the Secretary of the Navy. rms
board, therefore. did not have any
statutory authority. its recon-
mendations were not final and the
executive was authorized to act as
if no board had. been constituted.
There is nothing to prevent the
Secretary of the Nays departing
from the recommendation OF TINS
board when in his opinion this
should be done.
Explains Governing Principle.
The principle which governed me
in my review of the report of the
board. and in the final award of
the medals, was that those officers
and men who had served in the &C
tive war zone, and particularly
those who in this service had come
in contact with the enemy. should
come first in the recognition for
their services as shown by these
medals. In doing this. however.
care was taken that the great val
ne of the services rendered by the
officers and men in other parts of
the Navy's activities, such as those
in positions of great responsibility