Recipients of the Legion of Merit

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

Chief Commander

Nationality	Rank	Name	Force	Date	Comments
	Lieutenant-General	Sir Kenneth Anderson CB MC	British Army	June 18, 1943
	Generalissimo	Chiang Kai-shek	Chinese Armed Forces	July 1943
	Lieutenant-General	Tai An-lan(戴安瀾)	Chinese Armed Forces	1943	In command of 200th Division, Chinese Expeditionary Force (Burma). KIA on May 26, 1942 in Burma.
	Field Marshal	Sir Bernard Montgomery KCB DSO	British Army	August 6, 1943	General at the time
	Temporary Air Chief Marshal	Sir Arthur Tedder GCB	Royal Air Force	August 27, 1943
	Marshal of the Soviet Union	Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky	Soviet Army	June 22, 1944
	Chief Marshal Of Aviation	Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov	Soviet Air Force	June 22, 1944
	Rear-Admiral	Sir Victor Crutchley VC KCB DSC	Royal Australian Naval Squadron	September 1944	For exceptionally meritorious conduct 1942–44 in command of Task Force 44 in the Pacific.
	Air Marshal	Arthur Harris OBE AFC	Royal Air Force	October 17, 1944	Known as "Bomber" Harris; because of moral qualms, he was the only major British commander not to receive a peerage after World War II. He instituted "area bombing" of German cities.[1]
	King	George VI	Commonwealth armed forces	1945
	Admiral of the Fleet	Sir Andrew Cunningham Bt GCB DSO**	Royal Navy		First Sea Lord
	Admiral	Sir John Cunningham KCB	Royal Navy		For gallant and distinguished service during the invasion operations in Northern Italy and the South of France.
	Acting Air Marshal	Sir Arthur Coningham KCB DSO MC DFC AFC	Royal Air Force
	Marshal of the Soviet Union	Ivan Stepanovich Konev	Soviet Army	1945
	Marshal of the Soviet Union	Georgy Zhukov	Soviet Army	1945
	Marshal of the Soviet Union	Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov	Soviet Army
	Marshal of the Soviet Union	Kirill Afanasievich Meretskov	Soviet Army
	Army General	Stanislav Gilyarovich Poplavsky	Soviet Army
	Marshal of the Soviet Union	Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky	Soviet Army
	General	Andrey Ivanovich Yeryomenko	Soviet Army
	General Lieutenant admiral	Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld	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.[2] Was also a Honorary Air commodore in the Royal New Zealand Air Force since 1948.
	King	Michael I of Romania	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. "[3]
	Marshal	Michał Rola-Żymierski	Polish Armed Forces	1945
	Admiral	Sir Bertram Ramsay KCB KBE MVO	Royal Navy	January 15, 1945	For gallant and distinguished service whilst in command of the invasion operations on Normandy.
	Commander-In-Chief	Crown Prince 'Abd al-Ilah	Iraqi Armed Forces	June 1, 1945
	Vice Admiral	Sir Philip Vian KBE CMG	Royal Navy	July 17, 1945
	Brigadier general	Charles de Gaulle	French Armed Forces	August 24, 1945
	Air Chief Marshal	Sir William Douglas GCB MC DFC	Royal Air Force	August 28, 1945	made Commander of the Legion 28 July 1944
	Emperor	Haile Selassie	Ethiopian Armed Forces	1945
	Vice Admiral	Sir Geoffrey Blake KCB DSO	Royal Navy	November 6, 1945
	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."
	Marshal of the Soviet Union	Rodion Malinovsky	Soviet Army	1946
	Commanding General	Sir Baber Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana	Royal Nepalese Army	1946[4]	Brother of Prime Minister Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana who was decorated in 1948.
	King	Abdulaziz bin Abdur Rahman Al Saud	Saudi Arabian Armed Forces	February 18, 1947
	President	Miguel Alemán Valdés	Mexican Armed Forces	May 1, 1947
	Shah	Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi	Iranian Armed Forces	October 7, 1947
	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.
	Field Marshal	Sir William Slim GBE KCB DSO MC ADC	British Army	1948
	Field Marshal & Prime Minister	Tin Maharaja Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana	Royal Nepalese Army	1948[5]	Brother of Sir Baber Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana who was decorated in 1946.
	Prime Minister	The Rt Hon Sir Robert Menzies,KT AK CH QC	Australian Armed Forces
	Field Marshal OBE	Kodandera Madappa Cariappa	Indian Army	1950
	King	Paul I	Greek Armed Forces	October 28, 1953
	President	Celâl Bayar	Turkish Armed Forces	January 27, 1954
	Field Marshal	Luang Plaek Pibulsonggram	Thai Royal Army	May 2, 1955
	General	Satyawant Mallana Srinagesh	Indian Army	September 2, 1955	[6]
	King	Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX)	Thai Armed Forces	June 28, 1960
	Major General	Senussi Letaiwish	Chief of staff of the Royal Libyan Army	June 5, 1961	For Exceptionally Meritorious Conduct in the performance of outstanding services.
	General	Kim Yong-Bae	Republic Of Korea Army	February 14, 1968	For service April 1965 to March 1966. The initial award of Commander degree was revoked and replaced with Chief Commander.
	Minister of National Defense	Kim Sung-Eun	Republic Of Korea	December 9, 1968	For service March 1963 to June 1966.
	Admiral	Jal Cursetji	Indian Navy	1978	[7]
	President	Kenan Evren	Turkish Armed Forces	June 27, 1988
	General	Wolfgang Schneiderhan	Bundeswehr
	General	Hilmi Özkök	Turkish Armed Forces	2002
	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
	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	Mohammad Anwar Mohammad Nor	Malaysian Armed Forces	2006
	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	Ashfaq Parvez Kayani	Pakistani Army	January 1, 2009
	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.
	General	Bikram Singh[8][9]	Indian Army	December 5, 2013[10]	Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno presents Chief of Staff of the Indian Army Gen. Bikram Singh with the Legion of Merit.
	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.
	General	Hulusi Akar	Turkish Armed Forces	January 27, 2015	For his outstanding contributions to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
	Admiral	Muhammad Zakaullah	Pakistan Navy	March 17, 2017	Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah was presented with the United States Legion of Merit.[11]

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 CB, DSO, MVO, RAN	Royal Australian Navy	1942	Commanded various International military units.
	Major General	George Pearkes VC PC CC CB DSO MC CD	Canadian Army	1942	General Officer Commanding in Chief Pacific Command (Canadian Army)
	Wing Commander	Guy Penrose Gibson, VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar	Royal Air Force	December 3, 1943[12]	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[13]	President Roosevelt presented the award for further delivery to Marshal Stalin on February 11, 1945 at the Yalta Conference.
	Lieutenant General	Władysław Anders	2nd Polish Corps	August 1, 1944
	Major General	Paul Bergeron	French Army	1944
	General	Etienne 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 KBE, CB	Royal Air Force	January 30, 1945[14]	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 KCVO, CB, CMG	Royal Navy	1945	WWII Commander
	Air Commodore	Andrew James Wray Geddes DSO, OBE	Royal Air Force	1945	Responsible for the planning of Operations Manna and Chowhound
	Major General	Sir Miles William Arthur Peel Graham KBE CB CBE MC	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, VC, KCB, KBE, CMG, DSO	2nd New Zealand Division, New Zealand Military Forces	August 2, 1945
	Major General	William Henry Evered Poole, CB, CBE, DSO	6th South African Armored Division		Unit is part of the 5th US Army during the Italian Campaign in World War II
	Major General	Sir Donald Banks KCB, DSO, MC, TD	Petroleum Warfare Department	24 January 1946[15]	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".[16]
	Major General	Georges Vanier		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.
	Air Chief Marshal	Sir Keith Rodney 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	[6]
	General	Alfredo M. Santos	Armed Forces of the Philippines
	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.
	General	Keizō Hayashi	Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF)	November 10, 1958	Chairman of the Joint Staff Council, JSDF. First Japanese recipient of this medal.[17]
	Lieutenant-General	Ulrich de Maizière	Bundeswehr	March 9, 1965
	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	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	Sir Peter de la Billière KCB, KBE, DSO, MC & bar	British Forces to the Middle East during the First Gulf War	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.
	General	Michael John Dawson Walker, Baron Walker of Aldringham GCB, CMG, CBE, ADC, DL	Implementation Force in Bosnia	May 13, 1997[18]	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 AO, RAN	Royal Australian Navy	1998[19]	Chief of Navy
	General	Sir Phillip Bennett AC, KBE, DSO John Baker AC, DSM Sir Peter Cosgrove AC, MC	Australian Defence Force		Chiefs of the Defence Force
	General	Adolf Heusinger Klaus Naumann Wolfgang Schneiderhan Carl-Hubertus von Butler[20]	Bundeswehr
	General	Edgard de Larminat Alain de Boissieu Vincent Desportes Jean-Louis Georgelin
	Vice Admiral	David Shackleton AO, RAN	Royal Australian Navy	2001	Chief of Navy
	General	Md Hashim bin Hussein	Royal Malaysia Army	2001	Chief of Army
	Vice Admiral	Chris Ritchie AO, RAN	Royal Australian Navy		Chief of Navy
	Major General	Yedidya Ya'ari	Israeli Navy	December 4, 2003[21]	Commander in Chief, Israel Navy
	Lieutenant General	Charles Bouchard	Deputy Commander NORAD	2004	Commander of NATO forces enforcing "No Fly Zone" Libya 2011
	Lieutenant General	Peter Leahy AC	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
	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
	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[22]
	General	Toshio Tamogami	Air Self-Defense Force	August 19, 2008	[23]
	Lieutenant General	Ken Gillespie AC, DSC, CSM	Australian Army	2009	Chief of Army
	Colonel	Jaap Reijling	Royal Netherlands Air Force	October 29, 2009	For his large contribution to improving U.S.-Dutch relations during his posting as Air Force attaché at the Dutch Embassy in Washington in 2004–2008. He worked in particular on JSF cooperation and the ISAF mission in Afghanistan.
	Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces	Sverker Göranson	Swedish Armed Forces	2010	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
	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	Russ Crane AO, CSM, RAN	Royal Australian Navy		Chief of Navy
	General	Yoshifumi Hibako	Ground Self-Defense Force	June 8, 2011	Chief of Staff
	General	Edmund Entacher	Austrian Armed Forces	November 22, 2011[24]	Chief of Staff
	Major General	Ido Nehoshtan	Israeli Air Force	15 April 2012[25]	Chief of IAF
	General	Ants Laaneots	Estonian Defence Forces	July 4, 2012	Former Commander-in-Chief
	Lieutenant General	David Morrison AO	Australian Army	2012	Chief of Army
	General	David Hurley AC, DSC	Australian Army	2012	Chief of the Defence Force
	Colonel	Todd Balfe	Royal Canadian Air Force	June 5, 2012[26]	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[27]	Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces
	Lieutenant General	Claudio Graziano	Italian Army	February 11, 2013	Chief of the General Staff of the Italian Army
	Vice Admiral	Paul Maddison	Royal Canadian Navy	26 April 2013	Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy
	Vice Admiral	Ray Griggs AO, CSC, RAN	Royal Australian Navy	May 2013	Chief of Navy
	Brigadier General	Shamsher Thakurathi	Nepal Army	29 January 2013
	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.[28]
	Lieutenant general	Mahmoud Freihat	Jordanian Armed Forces	July 2017	Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces[29]

Officer

Movlid Visaitov, a Chechen colonel and a commander of 255th Separate Chechen–Ingush cavalry regiment, first to meet American forces on the Elbe river during World War II.

Ehud Barak, later Prime Minister of Israel, with the Legion of Merit in 1993

• 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 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.^[30][31]
• 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.^[32][33]
• On 18 October 1945, Harry Truman, Commander-in-Chief, and James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, personally signed the Legion of Merit, Degree of Officer awarded to Lieutenant Commander Gerhard Heinrich Heyen, Royal Australian Naval Reserve. The citation reads in part: “For exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as Hydrographic Officer, attached to Task Group 51.24, during the attack on enemy Japanese-held Tori Shiwa, Okinawa Gunto, from May 11 to 14, 1945…"^[34]
  

  Lt Cmdr Heyen leading the first wave at Okinawa
• 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.^[35]
• 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'.^[36]
• 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.^[37][38]
• 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.^[39]
• 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.^[40]
• In 1952, Captain Jean Arthur Leon Muller (Netherlands Navy) was made an Officer of the Legion for his "exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States" during the Korean War.^[41]
• For service 10 September 1952 – 27 April 1954, Brigadier General Shim On Bong of the Republic of Korea Army^[42]
• For service August 1953 – March 1955, Major General Chang Kuk Chang of the Republic of Korea Army^[43]
• 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.^[44]
• 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.^[45]
• 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.^[46]
• 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 1990, Colonel Stanisław Wożniak from Poland was made an Officer of the Legion of Merit for his exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services.^[47]
• In 2006, Lieutenant General Nick Houghton, British Army, "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Iraq."^[48]
• 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.^[49]
• Lieutenant General Sir James Dutton, Royal Marines, "in recognition of meritorious, gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Afghanistan".^[50]
• Major General Colin Boag, British Army, "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Iraq" (March 2008).^[51]
• Lieutenant General James Bucknall, British Army, "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Iraq" (July 2009).^[52]
• Major General Mohamed Elkeshky, Egyptian Army Defense, Military, Naval and Air Attaché to the United States. (2013)
• 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".^[53]
• 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, 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."^[54]
• In 2016, Brigadier General Paul Rutherford, Canadian Army, United States Central Command. "For exceptionally meritorious service as Deptuy 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."^[55]

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. The medal and ribbon of this fourth degree (Legionnaire) are used for such purpose though.^[56]

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,^[57] and the United States Coast Guard do.^[58]

The first U.S. Armed Forces recipient of the Legion of Merit medal was WWII combat veteran Lt. (j.g.) 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.^[59][60] She was also the first person authorized to wear the "V" Device with the award.^[61] Her medal is now housed at the Smithsonian Institution.

References