The Navy Cross is the second highest military decoration for valor that may be awarded to a member of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard for extraordinary heroism in combat. It is equivalent to the Army's Distinguished Service Cross and the Air Force Cross.
The Navy Cross is bestowed by the Department of the Navy and may also be awarded to members of the other service branches and to foreign military personnel while serving with the Navy. The Navy Cross was established by Act of Congress (Public Law 65-253) and approved on February 4, 1919.
Read more about Navy Cross: History, Criteria, Wear, Description and Symbolism, Notable Recipients
Famous quotes containing the words navy and/or cross:
“The Navy is the asylum for the perverse, the home of the unfortunate. Here the sons of adversity meet the children of calamity, and here the children of calamity meet the offspring of sin.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“Flood-tide below me! I see you face to face!
Clouds of the west—sun there half an hour
high—I see you also face to face.
Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me!
On the ferry-boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning
home, are more curious to me than you suppose,
And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)