List of recipients of the Legion of Merit explained

The Legion of Merit is a decoration of the United States and is awarded to foreign military personnel in four grades and to U.S. military personnel without distinction of degree. The following are notable recipients within the award.

Chief Commander

	Nationality	Office/Position	Rank	Name	Force	Date	Comments
1.			Lieutenant-General	Sir Kenneth Anderson,	British Armed Forces	June 18, 1943
2.		Chairman	Generalissimo	Chiang Kai-shek	Chinese Armed Forces	July 1943
3.		Commander of the 200th Division of the National Revolutionary Army	Lieutenant-General	Tai An-lan (Dai Anlan)	Chinese Armed Forces	1943	In command of 200th Division, Chinese Expeditionary Force (Burma). KIA on May 26, 1942, in Burma.
4.		GOC-in-C, Eighth Army	General	Sir Bernard Montgomery,	British Armed Forces	August 6, 1943	Later Field Marshal
5.		Air C-in-C Mediterranean Air Command	Air Chief Marshal	Sir Arthur Tedder,	Royal Air Force	August 27, 1943
6.		Chief of the Air Force of the Red Army	Chief Marshal Of Aviation	Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov	Soviet Air Forces	June 22, 1944
7.		Chief of the General Staff	Marshal of the Soviet Union	Aleksandr Vasilevsky	Soviet Army	1944
8.		Rear Admiral Commanding HM Australian Squadron	Rear-Admiral	Sir Victor Crutchley,	Royal Australian Naval Squadron	September 1944	For exceptionally meritorious conduct 1942–44 in command of Task Force 44 in the Pacific.
9.		Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Bomber Command	Air Marshal	Arthur Harris,	Royal Air Force	October 17, 1944	Known as "Bomber" Harris; he was the only major British commander who refused to receive a peerage after World War II (in protest in support of his men). He instituted "area bombing" of German cities.^[1]
10.		King	Commander-in-Chief (Admiral of the Fleet, Field Marshal, Marshal of the Royal Air Force)	George VI	British Armed Forces	1945
11.		First Sea Lord	Admiral of the Fleet	The 1st Baron Cunningham of Hyndhope,	Royal Navy
12.			Admiral	Sir John Cunningham,	Royal Navy		For gallant and distinguished service during the invasion operations in Northern Italy and the South of France.
13.			Acting Air Marshal	Sir Arthur Coningham,	Royal Air Force
14.		King	Supreme Commander-in-Chief Marshal of Romania	King Michael I	Romanian Armed Forces	1945	"Rendered exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service to the cause of the Allied Nations in the struggle against Hitlerite Germany. In July and August, 1944, his Nation, under the dominance of a dictatorial regime over which the King had no control, have allied herself with the Germany aggressors, he, King Mihai I, succeeded in giving purpose, direction and inspiration to the theretofore uncoordinated internal forces of opposition to the ruling dictator. In culmination of his efforts, on 23 August 1944, although his capitol was still dominated by Germany troops, he personally, on his own initiative, and in complete disregard for his own safety, gave the signal for a coup d'etat by ordering his palace guards to arrest the dictator and his chief ministers."^[2]
15.		Commander-in-Chief Polish Armed Forces in the East	Marshal	Michał Rola-Żymierski	Polish Armed Forces	1945
16.		Military Governor of the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany	Marshal of the Soviet Union	Georgy Zhukov	Soviet Army	1945
17.		Naval Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Naval Expeditionary Force	Admiral	Sir Bertram Ramsay,	Royal Navy	January 15, 1945	For gallant and distinguished service whilst in command of the invasion operations on Normandy.
18.		Crown Prince	Commander-In-Chief	'Abd al-Ilah	Iraqi Armed Forces	June 1, 1945
19.		Flag Officer Commanding, 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron, British Pacific Fleet and Second in Command, British Pacific Fleet	Vice Admiral	Sir Philip Vian,	Royal Navy	July 17, 1945
20.		Chairman of the Provisional Government of the French Republic	Brigadier general	Charles de Gaulle	French Armed Forces	August 24, 1945
21.		Commander-in-Chief British Air Forces of Occupation	Air Chief Marshal	Sir William Douglas,	Royal Air Force	August 28, 1945	made Commander of the Legion 28 July 1944
22.		Flag Officer, Liaison to the United States Navy in Europe	Vice Admiral	Sir Geoffrey Blake,	Royal Navy	November 6, 1945
23.		Crown Prince	Chief of Defence of Norway	Crown Prince Olav	Norwegian Armed Forces	November 23, 1945	"exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services from August 1944 to July 1945."
24.		Commander, Transbaikal-Amur Military District	Marshal of the Soviet Union	Rodion Malinovsky	Soviet Army	1946
25.		Commander, Northern Group of Forces	Marshal of the Soviet Union	Konstantin Rokossovsky	Soviet Army	1946
26.		Commanding General	Commanding General	Sir Baber Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana,	Nepali Army	1946	Brother of Prime Minister Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana who was decorated in 1948.
28.		King	Commander-in-Chief	Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud	Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia	February 18, 1947
29.		President	Commander-in-Chief	Miguel Alemán Valdés	Mexican Armed Forces	November 26, 1947
30.		President	General (Commander-in-Chief)	Eurico Gaspar Dutra	Brazilian Armed Forces	October 7, 1947	^[3]
31.		Shahanshah	Commander-in-Chief	Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi	Iranian Armed Forces	November 26, 1947	^[4]
32.		Minister of War		Fernando Santos Costa	Portuguese Armed Forces	March 11, 1948	^[5]
33.		Minister of the Army, Navy and Air Force	General	Dragoljub Mihailović	Yugoslav Royal Army	March 29, 1948	"General Mihailovich and his forces, although lacking adequate supplies, and fighting under extreme hardships, contributed materially to the allied cause, and were instrumental in obtaining a final Allied Victory." Recommended by Dwight D. Eisenhower. The award was kept secret until 1966.
34.			Field Marshal	Sir William Slim,	British Armed Forces	1948
35.		Chief of Army Staff	General	Luigi Efisio Marras	Italian Army	January 4, 1949	^[6]
36.		Maharaja, Prime Minister	Commander-in-Chief (Field Marshal)	Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana,	Royal Nepalese Army	April 14, 1949	^[7] Brother of Sir Baber Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana who was decorated in 1946.
37.		President	Commander-in-Chief	Rómulo Gallegos	Venezuelan Armed Forces	April 14, 1949
38.		President	Commander-in-Chief	Carlos Prío Socarrás	Cuban Armed Forces	April 14, 1949
39.		Chief of the Army Staff and Commander-in-Chief	General	Kodandera Madappa Cariappa,	Indian Army	November 10, 1949	^[8] Later Field Marshal
40.		Chief of the Army Staff	Army General		French Army	December 30, 1949	^[9]
41.		Commander-in-Chief of the Hellenic Armed Forces	Field Marshal	Alexandros Papagos	Greek Armed Forces	December 30, 1949
42.		Chief of the General Staff	General	Dimitrios Yiadzis	Greek Army	December 30, 1949
43.		Minister of National Defense	Divisional General		Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic	May 24, 1950	^[10]
44.		Secretary of National Defense	Lieutenant General		Mexican Armed Forces	February 14, 1951	^[11]
45.		President	Commander-in-Chief	Vincent Auriol	French Armed Forces	April 4, 1951	^[12]
46.		Emperor	Commander-in-Chief	Haile Selassie	Ethiopian Armed Forces	August 9, 1951	^[13]
47.		President	Commander-in-Chief	Galo Plaza	Ecuadorian Armed Forces	September 25, 1951	^[14]
48.		President	N/A	Otilio Ulate Blanco	N/A	October 24, 1951	^[15]
49.		C-in-C British Commonwealth Forces Korea	Lieutenant-General	Sir Horace Robertson,	Australian Defence Force	January 15, 1952	^[16]
50.		Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces	General		Portuguese Armed Forces	March 13, 1952	^[17]
51.		Queen	Commander-in-chief	Queen Juliana I of the Netherlands	Netherlands Armed Forces	April 23, 1952	Was Commander-in-chief of the Netherlands Armed Forces; Invested with the Order “For exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States from 1948 to 1952”.^[18]
52.		Prime Minister		The Rt Hon Robert Menzies,	Commonwealth of Australia	May 29, 1952	^[19]
53.			Marshal of France	Jean de Lattre de Tassigny	French Armed Forces	August 6, 1952	Posthumous.^[20]
54.			Major General	Cyro Espirito Santo Cardoso	Brazilian Army	October 4, 1952	^[21]
55.		King	Commander-In-Chief	Faisal II of Iraq	Iraqi Armed Forces	November 28, 1952	^[22]
56.		President	Commander-In-Chief	Manuel Odria	Peruvian Armed Forces	August 4, 1953	^[23]
57.		King	Commander-in-Chief	King Paul I	Greek Armed Forces	November 3, 1953	^[24]
58.		Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan Army	General	Ayub Khan	Pakistan Army	November 3, 1953
59.		President	Commander-in-Chief	Celâl Bayar	Turkish Armed Forces	March 8, 1954	^[25]
60.		President	Commander-in-Chief	Marcos Pérez Jiménez	Venezuelan Army	November 12, 1954	^[26] ^[27]
61.		Minister of Defence	Field Marshal	Luang Plaek Pibulsonggram	Royal Thai Army	May 2, 1955	Supreme Commander
62.		Chief of the Army Staff	General	Satyawant Mallana Srinagesh	Indian Army	September 2, 1955	Chief of the Army Staff
63.		King	Commander-in-Chief	Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX)	Royal Thai Armed Forces	June 28, 1960	Head of the Royal Thai Armed Forces
64.		Chief of the Army Staff	Major General	Senussi Letaiwish	Royal Libyan Army	June 5, 1961	The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, 20 July 1942, takes pleasure in presenting the Legion of Merit, in the Degree of Commander to Major General Senussi Letaiwish, Libyan Army, "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States", from October 1958 to June 1961.^[28]
65.		Chief of Defence Forces	Field Marshal	Thanom Kittikachorn	Royal Thai Army	1967
66.			General	Kim Yong-Bae	Republic of Korea Armed Forces	February 14, 1968	For service April 1965 to March 1966. The initial award of Commander degree was revoked and replaced with Chief Commander.
67.		Minister of National Defense		Kim Sung-Eun	Republic of Korea Armed Forces	December 9, 1968	For service March 1963 to June 1966.
68.		President	Commander-in-Chief	Kenan Evren	Turkish Armed Forces	June 27, 1988
69.		Commander British Forces Middle East	General	Sir Peter de la Billière,	British Armed Forces	8 June 1993	^[29]
70.		Chief of Staff	General	Freddy Padilla de Leon	Colombian Armed Forces	2008	After leading the Operation Jaque into success.
71.		Emir	Commander-in-Chief	Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah	Kuwait Military Forces	September 18, 2020	^[30]
72.		Prime Minister		Narendra Modi	India	December 21, 2020	"President Donald Trump presented the Legion of Merit to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in elevating the U.S.-India strategic partnership. Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu accepted the medal on behalf of Prime Minister Modi.” –NSA Robert C. O’Brien
73.		Prime Minister		Scott Morrison	Commonwealth of Australia	December 21, 2020	“President @realDonaldTrump awarded the Legion of Merit to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison for his leadership in addressing global challenges and promoting collective security. Ambassador @A_Sinodinos accepted the medal on behalf of PM Morrison.” – NSA Robert C. O’Brien^[31]
74.		Former Prime Minister		Shinzo Abe	Japan Self-Defense Forces	December 21, 2020	“President @realDonaldTrump awarded the Legion of Merit to Japanese Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his leadership in addressing global challenges and promoting collective security. Ambassador Shinsuke Sugiyama accepted the medal on behalf of Former PM Abe.” – NSA Robert C. O’Brien
75.		King	Commander-in-Chief	Mohammed VI	Royal Moroccan Armed Forces	January 15, 2021	"His vision and personal courage — including his decision to resume ties with the State of Israel — have positively reshaped the landscape of the Middle East and North Africa and ushered in a new era of security and prosperity for both our countries and the world," a White House statement said.^[32]
76.		King	Commander-in-Chief	Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa	Bahrain Defence Force	January 19, 2021	^[33]

Commander

Nationality	Rank	Name	Force	Date	Comments
	Brigadier General	Alexandre Zacharias de Assumpção	Brazilian Army	1942	General of Brigade Alexandre Zacharias de Assumpcao, Brazilian Army, was cited for service as Commanding General of the 8th Military Region, Brazil. The 8th Military Region was headquartered in Belem, which was a major support base for US aircraft transiting to North Africa and the Mediterranean. The Army made 31 awards of the Legion of Merit, commander grade, to Brazilian officers during World War II.
	Brigadier General	Amaro Soares Bittencourt	Brazilian Army	1942	First recipient of this medal in any degree.
	Rear Admiral	Harold Farncomb,	Royal Australian Navy	1942	Commanded various International military units.
	Major General		Canadian Army	1942	General Officer Commanding in Chief Pacific Command (Canadian Army)
	Major General	Leslie Burtonshaw Nicholls,	British Amy, Chief Signals Officer, Allied Force Headquarters,	July 1, 1943	For exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the United States and the Allied Nations. Assigned to Allied Force Headquarters 1 July 1943 when the planning for the Sicilan Campaign was in progress, and with great problems of communications and supply facing him, Major General Nicholls, with his sound knowledge and tireless energy, quickly overcame all difficulties. During the Sicilan and Italian Campaigns Major General Nicholls displayed the highest organizating ability, ensuring vital communications without which to many successful battles could not have been fought.
	Wing Commander	Guy Penrose Gibson,	Royal Air Force	December 3, 1943	WWII leader of the Dams raid (Operation Chastise) in 1943.
	Brigadier General	Paul Devinck	French Army	1943
	Lieutenant General	Louis Koeltz	French Army	1943	Commander of XIXth Army Corps
	Brigadier General	François Le Clercq	French Army	1943
	Colonel General Of Aviation	Alexander Repin	Soviet Air Force	June 22, 1944^[34]	President Roosevelt presented the award for further delivery to Marshal Stalin on February 11, 1945, at the Yalta Conference.
/	Lieutenant General	Sarkis Martirosyan	Soviet Army	July 26, 1944
	Lieutenant General	Władysław Anders	2nd Polish Corps	August 1, 1944
	Major General	Paul Bergeron	French Army	1944
	General	Étienne Beynet	French Army	1944	Head of the French Military Mission to Washington
	General	Georges Catroux	French Army	1944	Governor General of French Algeria
	General (later Maréchal de France)	Jean de Lattre de Tassigny	French Army	1944	Commander of the French Forces in Italy
	Lieutenant General	Henry Martin	French Army	1944	Commander of the French Forces in Corsica
	Brigadier General	Louis Rivet	French Army	1944	Former Head of French Military Intelligence
	Air Marshal	Sir Francis John Linnell,	Royal Air Force	January 30, 1945	Deputy Commander-in-Chief (RAF MED ME) Mediterranean Allied Air Forces, 29 February 1944 – 29 June 1944. Awarded posthumously by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
	Admiral	Sir Gerald Charles Dickens,	Royal Navy	1945	WWII Commander
	Air Commodore	Andrew James Wray Geddes,	Royal Air Force	1945	Responsible for the planning of Operations Manna and Chowhound^[35]
	Air vice-marshal	Frank Inglis	Royal Air Force	December 3, 1947^[36]
	Air vice-marshal	Charles Edmonds	Royal Air Force	December 3, 1947
	Air vice-marshal	Arthur Sanders	Royal Air Force	December 3, 1947
	Air vice-marshal	George Owen Johnson	Royal Canadian Air Force	December 3, 1947
	Major General	Sir Miles Graham,	British Army	24 April 1945	Responsible for organising and coordinating activities in connection with the invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
	Lieutenant General	Sir Bernard Cyril Freyberg,	2nd New Zealand Division, New Zealand Military Forces	August 2, 1945
	Colonel	Antonio Cárdenas Rodríguez	Mexican Air Force	1945	Commander of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force, which participated in the Battle of Luzon
	General	Sergěj Ingr	Czechoslovak Armed Forces	1945^[37]	Minister of National Defense of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1940-44
	Major General	William Henry Evered Poole,	6th Armored Division (South Africa)	6th South African Armored Division		Unit is part of the 5th US Army during the Italian Campaign in World War II
	General	Ludvík Svoboda	Czechoslovak Army	1946^[38]	Minister of Defence of Czechoslovakia
	Major General	Sir Donald Banks,	Petroleum Warfare Department	24 January 1946	For his role in the production and manufacture of an improved American flamethrower fuel, and other work of Petroleum Warfare Department employed during the liberation of Europe which "contributed substantially to the successful prosecution of the war".^[39]
	Brigadier General	John Ernest Genet,	Canadian Army	30 March 1946	Chief Signal Officer, First Canadian Army.^[40]
	Major General	Georges Vanier,	Canadian Army	1946	Canadian representative to the United Nations and Ambassador to France, later Governor General of Canada.
	Rear Admiral	Leonard W. Murray,	Canadian Northwest Atlantic	1946	Architect of the Battle of the Atlantic.
	Lieutenant General	Bengt Nordenskiöld	Swedish Air Force	9 July 1946^[41]	Chief of the Air Force
	Air Chief Marshal	Sir Keith Park,	Royal Air Force	June 27, 1947	WWII commander during the Battle of Britain and later Allied Air Commander South East Asia
	General	Rajendrasinhji Jadeja,	Indian Army	1946	Chief of the Army Staff^[42]
	Commander 2nd Class	Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland	Swedish Navy	June 4, 1948	On June 4, 1948, President Harry S. Truman awarded Prince Bertil of Sweden the Legion of Merit, Degree of Commander, "In exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the U.S."^[43]
	General	Alfredo M. Santos	Armed Forces of the Philippines
	General Lieutenant admiral	Prince Bernhard, Prince Consort of the Netherlands	Netherlands Armed Forces		Husband of the Commander-in-Chief of the Netherlands Armed Forces; Was a General in the Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and the Royal Netherlands Air Force and was a Lieutenant admiral in the Royal Netherlands Navy. Appointed a Honorary Air commodore in the Royal Air Force in 1941 and later appointed to the honorary rank of Air marshal by Queen Elizabeth II on 15 September 1964. Was also a Honorary Air commodore in the Royal New Zealand Air Force since 1948.
	General	Sarit Thanarat	Royal Thai Army	September 14, 1954
	Rear Admiral	Moje Östberg	Swedish Navy	January 1955^[44]	Naval attaché in Washington, D.C. from 1951 to 1954.
	Marshal of the Air Force	Fuen Ronnaphagrad Ritthakhanee	Royal Thai Air Force	May 17, 1955
	Colonel	Ramon Barquin	Armed Forces of the Republic of Cuba	1955	Military Attaché to the United States, Mexico, and Canada; Cuba Delegate to the Inter-American Defense Board; Vice-director and Joint Chiefs of Staff Commander of the Inter-American Defense Board. For his organizing and coordinating activities to eliminate coups d'état in the Americas. Barquin later became the last Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and de facto Head of State of the Republic of Cuba in January 1959, before the Revolutionary government established by Fidel Castro. Barquin served as Chief of the Army and was later named Ambassador-at-Large to Europe in April 1959 and resigned in 1960.
	Police General	Phao Siyanon	Royal Thai Police	September 2, 1955
	General	Keizō Hayashi	Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF)	November 10, 1958	Chairman of the Joint Staff Council, JSDF. First Japanese recipient of this medal.^[45]
	Field Marshal	Phin Choonhavan	Royal Thai Army	May 4, 1957
	Major General	Wan Waithayakon		Jan 3, 1958
	Lieutenant General	Thord Bonde	Swedish Army	December 4, 1959	Chief of the Army. For exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States, from July 1943 to September 1945 and October 1957 to March 1958.^[46]
	Air Chief Marshal	Dawee Chullasapya	Royal Thai Air Force	July 27, 1967
	Major General	Willem J.I. van Breukelen	Netherlands Armed Forces	1962
	General	Praphas Charusathien	Royal Thai Force	1962
	Vice Admiral	Åke Lindemalm	Swedish Navy	1963	Chief of the Navy. Awarded by the United States Secretary of the Navy Fred Korth.^[47]
	Lieutenant-General	Ulrich de Maizière	Bundeswehr	March 9, 1965
	General	Torsten Rapp	Swedish Air Force	April 12, 1965	Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces. "General Rapp has shown outstanding and exemplary leadership, and that he has meritoriously contributed to the friendly relations between Sweden and the United States." Awarded by General Earle Wheeler.^[48] ^[49]
	Lieutenant-General	Amer Khammash	Jordanian Armed Forces	April 3, 1969	Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces from 9 October 1967 till 30 June 1969. Awarded by President Richard Nixon for Exceptionally Meritorious Conduct in the Performance of Outstanding Services throughout his entire military career with the Arab Army.
	General	Odysseus Aggelis	Greek Armed Forces	April 5, 1971	Chief of the Greek Armed Forces from April 1967 till August 1973. Awarded by order of the US President Richard Nixon for Exceptionally Meritorious Conduct in the Performance of Outstanding Services from December 1968 to March 1971.
	Admiral	Sangad Chaloryu	Chief of Defence Forces	1975
	Admiral	Jal Cursetji	Indian Navy	1978	Chief of the Naval Staff^[50]
	General	Lennart Ljung	Swedish Army	1980	Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces. Awarded by General David C. Jones.^[51] ^[52]
	Major General	Mohamed Mirgani Eltahir	Sudanese Air Force	11 August 1981	Chief of Sudanese Air Force Major Gen. Mohamed was conferred with the US Legion of Merit Medal for his exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services from August 1978 to August 1981.
	Lieutenant-General	Stefan Grot-Rowecki	Polish Armed Forces (Armia Krajowa)	August 9, 1984	Awarded by Ronald Reagan posthumously forty years and one week after his death at the hands of the Gestapo.
	General	Chavalit Yongchaiyudh	Chiefs of Defence Forces	January 15, 1988
	Air Chief Marshal	Kaset Rojananil	Royal Thai Air Force	June 1, 1990
	General	Fidel Ramos	Armed Forces of the Philippines	1990
	Brigadier General	Abdul Muneem Mansur Ahmed	Bangladesh Army	January 16, 1991	The first Bangladeshi General to receive this award for his outstanding service as the Defense Attaché in the Bangladesh Embassy, United States
	Lieutenant General	Michel Roquejeoffre	French Army	July 14, 1991
	General	Ehud Barak	Israeli Defense Forces	1992	Later became Israeli Prime Minister from 1999 to 2001
	Teniente General	Martín Balza	Argentine Army	1994	Chief of Argentine Armed Forces 1991 to 1999
	General	Alfred John Gardyne Drummond de Chastelain, OC, CMM, CH, CD	Canadian Forces	1995	In 1999, he was made a Companion of Honour by Queen Elizabeth II. He is the former Chief of the Defence Staff for the Canadian Forces and he is the Chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning since November 1995 for the Northern Ireland Peace Process.
	General	I. M. Elias Nino Herrera	Colombian Marine Corps		For exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service as Commandant of the Colombian Marine Corps. General Nino's cooperation and understanding have been a significant contribution to the mutual friendship between Colombia and the United States.
	Lieutenant General	Michael Walker,	Implementation Force in Bosnia	May 13, 1997	Former Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) in the United Kingdom
	General de Ejército (General of the Army)	Paco Moncayo	Ecuadorian Armed Forces	January 1998	For of his exceptionally superior performance as Chief of the Armed Forces Joint Command and his contribution to Ecuadorian history, politics and democracy.
	Vice Admiral	Donald Chalmers,	Royal Australian Navy	1998^[53]	Chief of Navy
	General	Sir Phillip Bennett, John Baker, Sir Peter Cosgrove,	Australian Defence Force		Chiefs of the Defence Force
	General	Adolf Heusinger Klaus Naumann Wolfgang Schneiderhan Carl-Hubertus von Butler^[54]	Bundeswehr
	General	Edgard de Larminat Alain de Boissieu Vincent Desportes Jean-Louis Georgelin
	General	Mongkol Amphonpisit	Chiefs of Defence Forces	December 1, 1999
	General	Surayud Chulanont	Royal Thai Army	December 20, 2000
	Air Chief Marshal	Sanan Thuathip	Royal Thai Air Force	February 8, 2001
	Vice Admiral		Royal Australian Navy	2001	Chief of Navy
	General	Md Hashim bin Hussein	Royal Malaysia Army	2001	Chief of Army
	General	Wolfgang Schneiderhan	Bundeswehr
	General	Hilmi Özkök	Turkish Armed Forces	2002
	Vice Admiral		Royal Australian Navy		Chief of Navy
	Major General	Yedidya Ya'ari	Israeli Navy	December 4, 2003^[55]	Commander in Chief, Israel Navy
	Lieutenant General		Deputy Commander NORAD	2004	Commander of NATO forces enforcing "No Fly Zone" Libya 2011
	Admiral	Shahid Karimullah	Pakistan Navy	July 21, 2004	For his steadfast support of American-Pakistan cooperation in regional maritime, security affairs, demonstrated superb resolve and unwavering dedication to the Global War on terrorism
	Lieutenant General		Australian Army	2004	Chief of Army
	Admiral	Jorge Godoy	Argentine Navy	October 1, 2004	Chief of Staff, Argentine Navy
	General	Yoshimitsu Tsumagari	Japan Air Self-Defense Force	October 19, 2004	Chief of Staff, Air Self Defense Force
	Commander-in-Chief	Mehmet Yaşar Büyükanıt	Turkish Armed Forces	December 12, 2005
	Lieutenant General	Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury	Bangladesh Army	2005	Former Chief of Army Staff (Bangladesh)
	Admiral	Giampaolo Di Paola	Italian Navy		Incumbent Minister of Defence in the Monti Cabinet
	Admiral	Afzal Tahir	Pakistan Navy	January 23, 2006	Legion of Merit in recognition of his efforts in conducting maritime security operations and strengthening of cooperation between the two navies in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility.
	Admiral	Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor	Malaysian Armed Forces	2006
	General	Tadashi Yoshida	Japan Air Self-Defense Force	October 24, 2006	Chief of Staff, Air Self Defense Force
	Lieutenant General	Andrew Leslie	Canadian Army	December 8, 2006
	Admiral of the Fleet	Vladimir Vasilyevich Masorin	Russian Navy	August 24, 2007	The first Russian recipient for meritorious conduct of the Russian Federation Navy to increase cooperation and interoperability with the U.S. Navy and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from September 2005 to August 2007.
	General	Ryoichi Oriki	Ground Self-Defense Force	October 1, 2007	Chief of Staff
	Lt General	Tariq Khan	Pakistani Army	December 9, 2007	Legion of Merit for meritorious services as a liaison officer at CENTCOM during Operations Enduring Freedom (December 9, 2007).
	General	Franciszek Gągor	Polish Armed Forces	May 22, 2008	For exceptionally meritorious service as the Chief of Staff of the Polish Armed Forces from February 2006 to May 2008.
	Lieutenant General Hebrew: Rav Aluf	Gabi Ashkenazi	Israeli Defence Forces	July 24, 2008	Chief of Staff – Israeli Defence Forces
	Vice Admiral	Refiloe Johannes Mudimu	South African Navy	2008	For role in strengthening ties with US Navy^[56]
	General	Toshio Tamogami	Air Self-Defense Force	August 19, 2008	^[57]
	General	Ashfaq Parvez Kayani	Pakistani Army	January 1, 2009
	Lieutenant General		Australian Army	2009	Chief of Army
	General	Sverker Göranson	Swedish Armed Forces	2010	Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces. For dedication and professionalism as supreme commander led the continuing transformation of the Swedish Armed Forces and the Swedish international operations.
	General	Kenichiro Hokazono	Japan Air Self-Defense Force	January 22, 2010	Chief of Staff, Air Self Defense Force
	General	Babaker Shawkat B. Zebari	Iraqi Army	January 7, 2010
	Admiral	Noman Bashir	Pakistan Navy	March 18, 2010	For distinguished service and strengthening American-Pakistani relations. Also, for his role in establishing and strengthening the Pakistan Navy and U.S. Navy relations in Arabian Sea.
	Major General	Milinda Peiris RWP, RSP, USP	Sri Lanka Army		For service as military attaché to the Sri Lankan Embassy in the United States
	General	Godfrey Ngwenya	South African Army	20 May 2010	for his leadership during a time of transition in the South African military and his country's support of vital NATO peacekeeping operations in Sudan, Burundi and Congo
	Vice Admiral		Royal Australian Navy		Chief of Navy
	Air Chief Marshal	Rao Qamar Suleman	Pakistan Air Force	Aug. 5, 2010	For the performance of outstanding services March 2009 to August 2010.
	General	Yoshifumi Hibako	Ground Self-Defense Force	June 8, 2011	Chief of Staff
	General	Edmund Entacher	Austrian Armed Forces	November 22, 2011^[58]	Chief of Staff
	Air Chief Marshal	Itthaporn Subhawong	Royal Thai Air Force	December 21, 2011
	Major General	Ido Nehoshtan	Israeli Air Force	15 April 2012^[59]	Chief of IAF
	Admiral	Surasak Runroengrom	Royal Thai Navy	19 April 2012
	General	Ants Laaneots	Estonian Defence Forces	July 4, 2012	Former Commander-in-Chief
	Lieutenant General		Australian Army	2012	Chief of Army
	General		Australian Army	2012	Chief of the Defence Force
	Colonel	Todd Balfe	Royal Canadian Air Force	June 5, 2012^[60]	For his exceptional devotion to duty, and his significant contributions both to the maintenance of North American air security as well as to the close relationship between United States and Canadian Forces in NORAD.
	Colonel General	Tibor Benkő	Hungarian Ground Forces	September 4, 2012^[61]	Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces
	Major General	Berndt Grundevik	Swedish Army	September 2012^[62] 29 April 2015^[63]	Inspector of the Swedish Army Head of Swedish delegation to NNSC
	Lieutenant General	Claudio Graziano	Italian Army	February 11, 2013	Chief of the General Staff of the Italian Army
	Vice Admiral		Royal Canadian Navy	26 April 2013	Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy
	Vice Admiral		Royal Australian Navy	May 2013	Chief of Navy
	Brigadier General	Shamsher Thakurathi	Nepal Army	29 January 2013
	General	Prayut Chan-o-cha	Royal Thai Army	September 20, 2013^[64]
	General	Bikram Singh^[65] ^[66]	Indian Army	December 5, 2013^[67]	Chief of the Army Staff
	General	Hulusi Akar	Turkish Armed Forces	January 27, 2015	For his outstanding contributions to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
	General	Ismail Fathalli	Tunisian Army	April 13, 2015	Chief of Army Staff General Ismail Fathalli was presented with the United States Legion of Merit.^[68]
	General	Knud Bartels	Danish Army	October 2014	During his visit at the Pentagon General Bartels was awarded the Legion of Merit by General Dempsey in recognition of his exceptional conduct while serving as Chief of Defence of the Danish Armed Forces (2009–2011) and as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.^[69]
	General	Raheel Sharif	Pakistan Army	November 19, 2014	Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif on November 19, 2014, was conferred with the US Legion of Merit Medal in recognition of his brave leadership and efforts to ensure peace in the region.
	Vice Admiral		Royal Canadian Navy	April 21, 2015	VAdm Mark G. Norman received the award in honor of his leadership of the Royal Canadian Navy's successful anti-drug operations in and around Central America.^[70]
	Lieutenant General	Devi Chankotadze	Georgian Armed Forces	May 2, 2015^[71]	Chief of Joint Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces
	Brigadier General	Mohammad Abdul Moeen	Bangladesh Army	July 31, 2015	Brigadier General Moeen received this prestigious medal for his exceptional meritorious service as the Bangladesh Defense, Military, Naval and Air Attache to the United States, from May 2010 to July 2013. Brigadier General Moeen facilitated cooperation between the United States and Bangladesh Armies in numerous events through United States Pacific Command, to include those focused on peacekeeping operations, disaster management and counter terrorism.
	Lieutenant General	Gadi Eizenkot	Israel Defense Forces	August 2016	Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces
	Lieutenant General	Timothy James Keating,	New Zealand Army	November 1, 2016	Chief of Defence Force
	Admiral	Muhammad Zakaullah	Pakistan Navy	March 17, 2017	Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah was presented with the United States Legion of Merit.^[72]
	Lieutenant General	Angus Campbell,	Australian Army	13 June 2017	Chief of Army
	Lieutenant General	Mahmoud Freihat	Jordanian Armed Forces	July 2017	Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces^[73]
	Major General	Khalid Saleh Al-Sabah	Kuwaiti Armed Forces	April 2017	Commander, Kuwait Land Forces^[74]
	Major General	Amir Eshel	Israeli Air Force	August 2017	On change of command of the Israeli Air Force, awarded as outgoing commander.
	Major General	Robert Magowan,	Royal Marines	10 October 2017	Third Sea Lord
	General	Petr Pavel	Army of the Czech Republic	8 March 2018	Presented by General Joseph Dunford for service as Chairman of NATO Military Committee.^[75]
	Air Chief Marshal	Sohail Aman	Pakistan Air Force	March 12, 2018	Chief of Pakistan Air Force Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman was presented with the United States Legion of Merit.^[76]
	Lieutenant General	Michael Hood, CMM, CD	Royal Canadian Air Force	4 May 2018	Commander, Royal Canadian Air Force
	General	Sir Nicholas Carter,	British Army	14 May 2018	Chief of the General Staff
	Lieutenant General	Jonas Vytautas Žukas^[77]	Lithuanian Armed Forces	15 August 2018	Chief of Defence of Lithuanian Armed Forces^[78]
	General	Dalbir Singh Suhag	Indian Army	August 17, 2018^[79]	Chief of the Army Staff
	Major General	Vladimer Chachibaia	Georgian Armed Forces	29 August 2018	Chief of General Staff of Georgian Armed Forces
	Air Chief Marshal	Sir Stuart Peach,	Royal Air Force	October 2018	Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
	General	Riho Terras	Estonian Defence Forces	13 November 2018^[80]	Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces
	General	Fernando Alejandre Martínez	Spanish Army	18 October 2018	Chief of the Defence Staff
	Admiral	Katsutoshi Kawano	Japan Self-Defense Forces(JSDF)	21 March 2019	Chief of Staff, Joint Staff^[81]
	Air Marshal	Leo Davies,	Royal Australian Air Force	12 April 2019	Chief of Air Force (Australia)
	Admiral	Sir Philip Jones,	Royal Navy	1 May 2019	First Sea Lord
	Brigadier General	Jeff Mac Mootry	Royal Netherlands Marine Corps	4 June 2019^[82]	Commandant Royal Netherlands Marine Corps
	General	Pornpipat Benyasri	Chief of Defence Forces	June 18, 2019^[83]
	General	Othman al-Ghanmi	Iraqi Armed Forces	July 30, 2019	Chief of the General Staff during the War in Iraq (2013-2017), for his role in the Coalition to defeat Daesh^[84]
	General	Andika Perkasa	Indonesian Army	3 February 2020	General Andika Perkasa was conferred the award for his initiative in strengthening relations between the Indonesian Army and US Army and also for his contribution for the security stability in the Indo-Pacific region.^[85] As per September 2021, he is the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army.
	Major General	Mervyn Tan	Republic of Singapore Air Force	11 February 2020	Major General Mervyn Tan (Ret) was conferred the award for strengthening defence relations between the United States and Singapore.He is now currently serving as the Deputy Secretary of Technology in MINDEF.
	Vice Admiral	Maurice Frank Ronald "Ron" Lloyd Ron Lloyd	Royal Canadian Navy	29 Feb 2020	Commander Royal Canadian Navy (Ret)
	Air Chief Marshal	Johm Rungsawang		16 Sep. 2020^[86]
	Vice Admiral	Michael Noonan,	Royal Australian Navy	28 March 2022	Chief of Navy
	General	Narongpan Jitkaewthae	Royal Thai Army	22 May 2022^[87]
	Admiral	Evelio Ramírez Gáfaro	Colombian Navy	17 September 2020^[88]	Commander-in-chief of the Navy. For exceptionally meritorious service as Commander, Colombian Navy, from December 2018 to August 2020. Admiral Ramirez led the Colombian Navy and Coast Guard efforts to interdict illicit drug shipments destined for the United States, significantly contributing to Hemispheric security. Admiral Ramírez's superior effort, outstanding leadership, and personal initiative reflect great credit upon himself, the Colombian Navy, and his country.
	Rear Admiral	Brúmel Vázquez Bermúdez	Ecuadorian Navy	6 December 2022^[89]	Chief of Navy. Exceptionally meritorious service as Commanding General of the Ecuadorian Navy, from May 2021 to July 2022. He led the Ecuadorian Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps efforts to advance the partnership with the United States. His superior effort, outstanding leadership, and personal initiative reflect great credit upon himself, the Ecuadorian Navy, and his country.
	Major General	Karl Engelbrektson	Swedish Army	19 December 2022^[90]	Chief of Army. Awarded by the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General James C. McConville
	Major General	Kelvin Khong	Republic of Singapore Air Force	10 May 2023	Major General Kelvin Khong was conferred the award in recognition for his meritorious service as Chief of Air Force since 2019, in deepening long-standing bilateral ties between the United States Air Force and the Republic of Singapore Air Force, and his contributions to enhance interoperability and trust between the two Air Forces through professional exchanges and participation in exercises.
	Rear Admiral	Aaron Beng	Republic of Singapore Navy	26 May 2023	Rear Admiral Aaron Beng was presented the medal in recognition of his leadership and contributions as Chief of Navy, where he had deepened the longstanding bilateral ties between the United States Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy in spite of the pandemic, and contributed to the quick resumption of engagements to enhance interoperability between the two navies.
	Lieutenant General (RET)	Melvyn Ong	Singapore Armed Forces	1 June 2023	Lieutenant General (RET) Melvyn Ong was presented the medal in recognition of his leadership and contributions as Chief of Defence Force, when he deepened longstanding bilateral ties between the US Military and Singapore Armed Forces. This included regular bilateral exchanges between both Armed Forces through professional engagements and participation in exercises.
	Admiral	Sir Tony Radakin,	Royal Navy	10 September 2023	Chief of the Defence Staff^[91]
	Air Marshal	Kevin Ronald Short,	Royal New Zealand Air Force	6 April 2024	Chief of Defence Force
	General	Micael Bydén	Swedish Armed Forces	1 May 2024	General Charles Q. Brown Jr. presented the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces General Micael Bydén the Legion of Merit, Degree of Commander. General Bydén was recognized for his visionary leadership in championing Sweden’s accession to NATO and transforming the Swedish Armed Forces.^[92]

Officer

• At the beginning of the North African campaign, Brigadier General Lyman L. Lemnitzer accompanied Major General Mark Wayne Clark by submarine to North Africa. Upon arrival, about 60 officers were awarded the Legion of Merit and were among the first awarded the medal. By some misunderstanding as to the rules governing the awards, these 60 American officers were awarded the degree of Officer. According to Lemnitzer, President Roosevelt was quite annoyed but did not rescind the awards. These were the only U.S. officers (or service personnel of any rank) awarded the Legion of Merit with a degree.
• In 1943 Willem Jan Kruys received the Legion of Merit (Officer) in Australia as captain of the Dutch destroyer HMNS Tjerk Hiddes for the three rescue trips to Timor in December 1942 during which 1100 people were saved from the beaches of Timor under Japanese occupation. The certificate was signed by President Roosevelt personally. In 1960 Kruys received the Legion of Merit again when retired as vice-admiral of the Royal Dutch Navy, this time with gold star and combat V.
• In March 1945, Colonel Hsieh Mang, of the Chinese Army was awarded the Legion of Merit for his work with the First American Volunteer Group "Flying Tigers".
• In 1945, Lieutenant Colonel William E. Fairbairn, a former British General Service Corps who transferred to United States as "officer in rent" to train SOE agents and later the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), for his achievements in training OSS personnel. Fairbairn eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel by the end of the war, and received the U.S. Legion of Merit (officer grade) at the specific request of "Wild Bill" Donovan, founder of the OSS. Known as the teacher of close combat fighting in Camp X and teaching defendu, a special forces close combat system. Following his instruction at Camp X, Fairbairn was rejoined by his pupil Col. Applegate to form the United States "School for Spies and Assassins", then called "Camp B", now known as Camp David. Not well known by the public because his techniques were often brutal, and were considered too dangerous to be widely publicly known. Some people considered him as a British agent in disguise and a prototype of Ian Fleming's character of James Bond. Fairbairn was also the teacher of Lt. Colonel Robert T. Frederick, the designer of Army Special Unit knife V-42 stiletto which was based on Fairbairn–Sykes commando knife. Fairbairn also a friend of Captain Dermot Michael "Pat" O'Neill, the First Special Service Force's close-combat instructor.^{[93] [94]}
• In 1945, Colonel Movlid Visaitov, commander of the 255th Separate Chechen-Ingush Cavalry Regiment and the 28th Guards Regiment. Visaitov was the first Soviet officer to shake hands with General Bolling at the Elbe River.
• On 27 September 1945, General Alois Liška of the Czechoslovak Army under former U.S. command, was awarded by General Ernest N. Harmon in Prague
• Group Captain Harry Day, Senior Officer at numerous POW camps during World War II, and significantly helped American POWs endure the captivity, as well as organizing escape operations. He received the award on July 5, 1946.
• In 1946, Commodore Alfred Victor Knight of the Royal Australian Navy was awarded the commendation for honorary services. The citation described him as a 'forceful leader' who, by his 'splendid co-operation in the conduct of a vital training programme, aggressive determination and untiring energies ... contributed materially to combined large-scale operations'.^[95]
• On 3 September 1946, Vice Admiral Henry George Harry DeWolf of the Royal Canadian Navy was awarded the legion of Merit officer level for honorary services. The citation description "For exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service while serving as Chief Staff Officer to Rear-Admiral G.C. Jones, RCN. He frequently conferred with Commander Task Force Twenty-four and his staff in connection with planning and the operational control of the surface forces under Commander Task Force Twenty-four. His excellent professional grasp of strategic and tactical situations, together with his intelligent and co-operative attitude, contributed materially to the success of operations conducted by Commander Task force Twenty-four."
• In 1947, Colonel Valentine Patrick Terrel Vivian head of counter-espionage, Section V, and Vice-Chief of the S.I.S. or MI6. The citation reads, as deputy director of a special British agency in the European Theater of Operations from January 1943 to June 1945, rendered exceptionally devoted and meritorious service to the Allied armies, by American forces in a special province of military operations, and continuing it through the long period of preparation for the Normandy invasion and during the march into Germany, Colonel Vivian made an outstanding contribution to Allied military and to the enemy's defeat.^[96]
• On 30 January 1948, Captain J. Alberto Sánchez López Commander-in-Chief of the Ecuadorian Navy, was awarded the legion of Merit officer level. The citation description "For exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States from June 1944 to August 1945. He has made an essential contribution to Pan-American Solidarity in further strenghthening the bond and understanding between the United States of America and Ecuador. Under his able guidance and direction, the Navy of Ecuador, cooperating with the Armed Forces of the United States, assisted in consolidating Western Hemispheric Defense during the critical period of the war."
• In 1948, then Brigadier General John Frederick Boyce Combe was made an Officer of the Legion for his contribution "to the over-all success Allied forces in Italy" during World War II.
• In 1948, Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera VSV, USP, Sri Lanka Air Force.
• In 1950 Air Commodore Leonard Birchall (Royal Canadian Air Force) was made an officer of the Legion for his life imperiling heroic actions as a Japanese POW in WWII: "His exploits became legendary throughout Japan and brought renewed faith and strength to many hundreds of ill and disheartened prisoners." – U.S. President Harry S. Truman.^[97]
• In 1953, The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, 20 July 1942, takes pleasure in presenting the Legion of Merit, in the Degree of Officer to Major General [then Brigadier General] Ham Byong Sun, Republic of Korea Army, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States from 28 April 1951 to 3 April 1952.^[98]
• In 1953, Major General [then Brigadier General] Kim Chum Kon, Republic of Korea Army, was made an Officer of the Legion for service 25 October 1952 – 14 February 1953.^[99]
• For service 10 September 1952 – 27 April 1954, Brigadier General Shim On Bong of the Republic of Korea Army^[100]
• For service August 1953 – March 1955, Major General Chang Kuk Chang of the Republic of Korea Army^[100]
• In 1957, Colonel Stig Wennerström was made an Officer of the Legion for serving as an air attaché in Washington, D.C. from 1952 to 1957.^[101]
• In 1959, Major General Mian Ghulam Jilani was made an Officer of the Legion for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States, from October 1952 to June 1955.^[102]
• In 1960 Major General Mian Hayaud Din was made an Officer of the Legion for his role as Chief of the Pakistan Military Mission to the United States from 1955 to 1960.^[103]
• In 1973 "by Direction of the President, Major General Liu Wan-Tsai, Chinese Air Force, [was] awarded the Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer) for exceptionally meritorious service as Air Attache, Embassy of the Republic of China, Washington, D.C., from 4 April 1969 to 27 July 1972."
• In 1996, Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire of the Canadian Army was made an Officer of the Legion for his role as Commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda during the civil war and subsequent genocide.^[104]
• On 18 December 1980 Major General Shlomo Inbar, Israel Army, was made an Officer of the Legion of Merit for his exceptionally meritorious conduct in the outstanding performance of duties as Defense and Armed Forces Attache, Embassy of Israel to the United States of America, from July 1977 to August 1980.
• In 2000, Lieutenant General Danfer G. Suarez was made an Officer of the Legion "Exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services as the Peruvian Air Attache from 1997 to 1998.
• In 2006, Lieutenant General Nick Houghton, British Army, "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Iraq."
• In 2007, Lieutenant General Sir Robert Fry, Royal Marines, "in recognition of gallant and distinguished service during coalition operations in Iraq.
• Lieutenant General Tariq Khan became the fourth Pakistani officer to receive the award for meritorious services as a liaison officer at CENTCOM during Operations Enduring Freedom (December 9, 2007).
• In 2008, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy Head of the Royal Air Force, for his part in Operation Telic / Operation Iraqi Freedom.^[105]
• Lieutenant General Sir James Dutton, Royal Marines, "in recognition of meritorious, gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Afghanistan".
• Major General Colin Boag, British Army, "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Iraq" (March 2008).
• Lieutenant General James Bucknall, British Army, "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Iraq" (July 2009).
• Major General Mohamed Elkeshky, Egyptian Army Defense, Military, Naval and Air Attaché to the United States. (2013).^[106]
• In 2011, Vice Admiral Tomohisa Takei, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, "as recognition for Takei's exceptional leadership and expertise in maturing and expanding the JMSDF and U.S. Navy partnership during his role as director of operations and plans department, JMSDF Maritime Staff Office from April 2008 to July 2010".^[107]
• In 2013, Lieutenant General Walter Souza Braga Netto, Brazilian Army, Military Attaché to the United States of America. "For exceptionally meritous conduct in the performance of outstanding services from March 2011 to May 2013.
• In 2014, Air Commodore David Best, United Kingdom Royal Air Force. "For exceptionally meritorious service as Director of Air Operations, International Security Assistance Force, from December 2010 to December 2011".
• In 2014, Major General Brett Cairns, Canadian Air Force, NORAD J3. "For exceptionally meritorious service as Director of Operations, Headquarters North American Aerospace Defense Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, from May 2005 to August 2008."^[108]
• In 2016, Brigadier General Paul Rutherford, Canadian Army, United States Central Command. "For exceptionally meritorious service as Deputy Director, Strategy, Plans and Policy Military to Military, Strategy, Plans and Policy Directorate, United States Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, from August 2013 to August 2015."^[109]
• in 2018, Commodore Alok Bhatnagar, NSM, Indian Navy. "For Exceptionally Meritorious Conduct in the Performance of Outstanding Service as the Indian Naval Attache to United States of America from August 2011 to December 2014.
• In 2018, Air Commodore A. P. T. Smith (UK).^[110]
• In 2018, Air Commodore Stephen Lushington (UK). For exceptionally meritorious service, NATO Forces, Afghanistan.^[111]
• In 2019, Brigadier General Suzanne Melotte, For exceptionally meritorious service NATO Forces, Afghanistan.
• In 2023, Commodore Adrian C Fryer Royal Navy (UK). For exceptionally meritorious service and leadership as Deputy Commander and Commander, Combined Maritime Forces.

Legionnaire

When the Legion of Merit is awarded to members of the Armed Forces of the United States, it is awarded without reference to degree. However, the medal and ribbon of the fourth degree (Legionnaire) are used for members of the Armed Forces of the United States.^[112]

The US Army and US Air Force do not authorize the "V" Device for the Legion of Merit. The U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps,^[113] and the United States Coast Guard do.^[114]

The first U.S. Armed Forces recipient of the Legion of Merit medal was World War II combat veteran Lieutenant, junior grade, Ann Bernatitus, U.S.N., one of the "Angels of Bataan" and the only U.S. Navy nurse to escape from Bataan and Corregidor during the war.^{[115] [116]} She was also the first person authorized to wear the "V" Device with the award.^[117] Her medal is now housed at the Smithsonian Institution.

Notes and References

1. Book: Keegan, John . John Keegan . The Second World War . Penguin Books . 1989 . 421 & 433 . 978-0-14-303573-2.
2. 103rd Congress (1993–1994) . . S12295 .
3. Web site: Individual Awards . . October 7, 1947 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
4. Web site: Individual Awards . . November 26, 1947 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
5. Web site: Individual Awards . . March 11, 1948 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
6. Web site: Individual Awards . . January 4, 1949 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
7. Web site: Individual Awards . . April 14, 1949 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
8. Web site: Individual Awards . . November 10, 1949 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
9. Web site: Individual Awards . . December 30, 1949 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
10. Web site: Individual Awards . . May 24, 1950 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
11. Web site: Individual Awards . . February 14, 1951 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
12. Web site: Individual Awards . . April 4, 1951 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
13. Web site: Individual Awards . . August 9, 1951 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
14. Web site: Individual Awards . . September 25, 1951 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 15, 2021.
15. Web site: Individual Awards . . October 24, 1951 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 15, 2021.
16. Web site: Individual Awards . . January 15, 1952 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 15, 2021.
17. Web site: Individual Awards . . March 13, 1952 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 15, 2021.
18. Web site: Individual Awards . . April 23, 1952 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 15, 2021.
19. Web site: Individual Awards . . May 29, 1952 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 15, 2021.
20. Web site: Individual Awards . . August 6, 1952 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 15, 2021.
21. Web site: Individual Awards . . October 4, 1952 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 15, 2021.
22. Web site: Individual Awards . . November 28, 1952 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 15, 2021.
23. Web site: Individual Awards . . August 4, 1953 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 15, 2021.
24. Web site: Individual Awards . . November 3, 1953 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 15, 2021.
25. Web site: Individual Awards . . March 8, 1954 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 15, 2021.
26. Web site: Progress Report by the Operations Coordinating Board to the National Security Council. Office of the Historian. FRUS. January 19, 1955.
27. Web site: Marcos Perez Jimenez – Legion of Merit. valor.militarytimes.com.
28. Web site: Senussi Letaiwish – Legion of Merit. valor.militarytimes.com.
29. Web site: CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD Honours and Awards The Gazette. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20210902171801/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3836299. 2021-09-02.
30. Web site: President Donald J. Trump is Awarding the Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander. National Archives. whitehouse.gov.
31. Web site: Trump Awards Morrison with Top Military Honor. The Australian.
32. News: Outgoing Trump fetes Morocco king, rallies behind claim . January 15, 2021 . msn.com . AFP . January 15, 2021.
33. News: M King awarded Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander, by US President . 4 March 2024 . Bahrain News Agency . 19 January 2021.
34. Web site: United States Department of State / Foreign relations of the United States. Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945 III. The Yalta Conference (1945) . 558.
35. Web site: Individual Awards . . November 26, 1947 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
36. Web site: Individual Awards . . December 3, 1947 . Army Publishing Directorate . Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army . November 14, 2021.
37. Web site: Legion of Merit, Commander, USA. Imperial War Museums.
38. Web site: Vyznamenání . 20 September 2020 .
39. Citation for the Legion of Merit, The National Archives WO373/147
40. The London Gazette, Supplement 37686. 13 August 1946. Page 4105.
41. Web site: Amerikansk Utmäkelse Till Nordenskiöld . . American Award to Nordenskiöld . 9 July 1946 . 7 December 2017 . sv.
42. Book: Sharma, Satinder . Services Chiefs of India . 2007 . Northern Book Centre . 978-81-7211-162-5 . 49 . November 20, 2011 . Google Books.
43. Web site: Photo Record . Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center . June 4, 1948 . September 17, 2019.
44. News: Högre militära utnämningar . . 4A . 23 September 1955 . 5 May 2020 . sv.
45. News: Foreign Gen. Keizo Hayashi, chief of staff of Japan's self-defense forces, today was awarded the Legion of Merit in the degree of commander by the United States . . The presentation was made by U. S. Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II at a reception in honor of the Japanese commander in the American Embassy in Tokyo. Hayashi, a civilian during World War II, was the first Japanese to receive the medal. . November 10, 1958 . 12.
46. Web site: Count Thord Bonde: Awards and Citations. Military Times . www.valor.militarytimes.com . December 4, 1959 . December 7, 2017.
47. News: Chefen för marinen . . 22A . 5 April 1963 . 15 May 2020 . sv.
48. News: Skott på Rapp . . 12 . 14 April 1965 . 15 May 2020 . sv.
49. News: Den neutrale . . 2 . 1965-04-23 . 15 May 2020 . sv.
50. Book: Stewart, William . Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present . 2009 . McFarland . 978-0-7864-8288-7 . 85 . Google Books . November 20, 2011.
51. News: ÖB på vift . . 11 . 20 January 1980 . 15 May 2020 . sv.
52. Web site: Künker Auktion 192 – Russische Münzen und Medaillen Orden und Ehrenzeichen mit interessanten Serien aus europäischem Privatbesitz . Fritz Rudolf . Künker . GmbH & Co. KG . 343–344 . de.
53. Web site: Vice Admiral Don Chalmers AO (Retd.) . Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal . November 6, 2016.
54. Web site: US Army Europe awards retired German general US Legion of Merit medal for 41 years of service . July 23, 2013 . Daniel . Cole . U.S. Army Europe.
55. Web site: Bivera . Johnny . Adm. Vern Clark, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), presents Vice Adm. Yedidia Ya'ari, Commander in Chief, Israel Navy, with the Legion of Merit . Navy News Service . December 1, 2012.
56. C Navy awarded US Legion of Merit Medal . Navy News . 2008 . XVII . 4 . 8.
57. News: AF welcomes Japanese chief of staff . Bolling.af.mil . August 20, 2008 .
58. Web site: Generalstabschef Entacher erhält hohe US-Auszeichnung . Chief of the General Staff Entacher receives a high US award . Austrian Armed Forces . November 22, 2011 . de.
59. News: Katz . Yaakov . IAF chief awarded Legion of Merit by USAF commander . . 1 December 2012.
60. Web site: U.S. Legion of Merit presented to RCAF officer . Royal Canadian Air Force . June 19, 2012.
61. Web site: "Legion of Merit" kitüntetést vehetett át dr. Benkő Tibor vezérezredes . honvedelem.hu . January 14, 2013 . hu.
62. Web site: Kadetter fick värdefulla råd av amerikansk general . . Torbjörn F . Gustafsson . 10 September 2012 . 7 December 2017 . sv.
63. Web site: Today we bid farewell... . . 29 April 2015 . 15 March 2021 . Facebook.
64. https://ratchakitcha2.soc.go.th/pdfdownload/?id=1988708
65. Web site: General Ray Odierno, Chief of Staff, Army, visits with Indian counterpart General Bikram Singh . Mikki . Sprenkle . December 11, 2013 . U.S. Army . October 27, 2015.
66. Web site: Indian Army Chief of Staff Visits with United States Army Chief of Staff . December 6, 2013 . U.S. Army . October 27, 2015.
67. News: General Bikram Singh awarded the US's 'Legion of Merit' . December 10, 2013 . The Times of India (Economic Times) . October 27, 2015.
68. Web site: Tunisian general takes part in JBM-HH and ANC ceremonies. www.army.mil.
69. Web site: Chairman of the Military Committee discusses Euro-Atlantic Security Architecture and the importance of a solid Transatlantic Bond . October 4, 2014 . NATO . October 27, 2015.
70. Web site: Royal Canadian Navy Vice Adm. Mark Norman receives Legion of Merit. The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
71. Web site: Visit of CHOD to USA . mod.gov.ge – News.
72. Web site: Naval Chief presented Legion of Merit during US visit. Dawn.com. 17 March 2017.
73. Web site: Freihat visits United States. ar. Hala Akhbar. 27 July 2017.
74. Web site: Kuwait land forces commander visits US Army Central headquarters. www.army.mil.
75. Web site: "Skvěle vedl vojáky NATO". Generál Petr Pavel dostal nejvyšší americké vojenské vyznamenání | Aktuálně.cz . 10 March 2018 .
76. Web site: Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman accorded with US Legion Of Merit. APP. 12 March 2018.
77. Web site: biography of the Chief of Defence of the Republic of Lithuania. 11 January 2019.
78. Web site: Chairman Presents Legion of Merit to Lithuanian Defense Chief. 15 August 2018.
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83. https://allhands.navy.mil/Media/Gallery/igphoto/2002355283/ CAMP SMITH, Hawaii (June 18, 2019)Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, presents the Legion of Merit to Gen. Pornpipat Benyasri, for his outstanding service as Chief of Defense forces for the Royal Thai Armed Forces. Thailand is America’s oldest ally in the region, and this visit demonstrates the two nations commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
84. https://twitter.com/CJTFOIR/status/1156257100638633984
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86. https://www.facebook.com/usembassybkk/photos/a.119472568073894/3576131515741298/ The U.S. Secretary of Defense has awarded the Legion of Merit (Degree of Commander) to H.E. Air Chief Marshal Johm Rungswang, Privy Councilor to His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and Former Royal Thai Air Force Commander in Chief, for his steadfast support of the U.S.-Thai alliance. The prestigious award was presented by Ambassador Michael George DeSombre at the Ambassador’s residence on September 14.
87. https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7820292/general-narongpan-chief-army-royal-thai-army-visits-pentagon General Narongpan, Chief of Army, Royal Thai Army visits the Pentagon
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92. The Joint Staff . Joint Chiefs of Staff . thejointstaff . 1786029109207867565 . 2 May 2024 . Yesterday, @GenCQBrownJr presented Swedish Chief of Defence Gen. Micael Bydén the Legion of Merit. Gen. Bydén was recognized for his visionary leadership in championing Sweden’s accession to NATO and transforming the Swedish Armed Forces. . 3 June 2024 .
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