Distinguished Public Service Medal

The Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, established in 1951, is an award presented by the U.S. Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) to civilians for specific courageous or heroic acts or exceptionally outstanding service of substantial and long-term benefit to the Navy, Marine Corps, or Department of the Navy as a whole.

Details, including nominating procedures, are given in SECNAVINST 5061.12:^[1]

The Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award...is the highest form of public service recognition bestowed by DON . It consists of a gold medal, miniature medal, lapel bar, rosette, and a certificate signed by SECNAV. Nominations for this award will be limited to those extraordinary cases where individuals have demonstrated exceptionally outstanding service of substantial and long term benefit to the Navy, Marine Corps, or as DON as a whole. The award may also be approved for specific courageous or heroic acts bearing directly on the accomplishment of the DON mission."

Notable recipients include Joe Rosenthal, Pulitzer Prize winning photographer, known for the iconic photo, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima"^[2]

One of the first recipients (Oct 1952) was Brewster Jennings, head of Tanker Operations during WWII in the War Shipping Administration and co-founder/head of Socony Mobil which became the Mobil Oil Company. During World War I he served in the Navy as an ensign on a submarine chaser and was awarded the Navy Cross.

Freelance television news cameraman Chris Jackson received the award for rescuing Marine Sgt. Courtney Rauch from a burning Humvee in the Helmand province of Afghanistan in August, 2008 [1]. While filming for Col. Oliver North’s show on the Fox News Channel, the Humvee in which Jackson and Rauch were riding was struck by an IED, knocking Sgt. Rauch unconscious. Although injured in the blast, Jackson pulled Rauch from the vehicle to safety. Maj. Gen. Paul Lefebvre presented Jackson with the award January 24, 2009, at Al Faw Palace in Baghdad, Iraq.^[3][4]

Notes

1. ^ Secretary of the Navy (15 APRIL 1985). "SECNAV INSTRUCTION 5061.12: Honorary Awards to Private Citizens and Organizations" (PDF). http://www.combatindex.com/mil_docs/pdf/secnav/5000/5061-12C.pdf. Retrieved January 23, 2009. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Odom, Sgt. Christine C. (September 17, 2006). "Marine Corps awards Joe Rosenthal Distinguished Public Service Medal". Marine Corps News (United States Marine Corps). http://www.marines.mil/units/hqmc/mcrc/12mcd/Pages/2006/Marine%20Corps%20awards%20Joe%20Rosenthal%20Distinguished%20Public%20Service%20Medal.aspx. Retrieved January 23, 2009.. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Graulich, Heather. "Injured Cameraman Receives Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award". National Press Photographers Association. Retrieved on March 30, 2009.
4. ^ Multi-National Corps – Iraq (2009-01-27). Civilian journalist receives Navy’s second highest honor. Press release. Retrieved on March 30, 2009.

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References

United States Navy portal

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the United States Government.

• "Title 32, Volume 5" (txt). Code of Federal Regulations]. U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access. revised as of July 1, 2003]. pp. 170–172. 32CFR705.37. http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2003/julqtr/32cfr705.37.htm. Retrieved 23 January 2009.