Mexican Border Service Medal | |
---|---|
Type | Service medal |
Awarded for | National Guard troops federalized for service against Mexico, but who did not qualify for the Mexican Service Medal. |
Country | United States |
Presented by | Secretary of War |
Status | Obsolete |
Established | July 9, 1918 |
Total recipients | 41,000 |
Precedence | |
Next (higher) | Mexican Service Medal |
Next (lower) | World War I Victory Medal |
Related | Texas Cavalry Medal |
The Mexican Border Service Medal was a U.S. service medal established by an Act of Congress on July 9, 1918. [1] It was awarded for service on the border between May 9, 1916 and March 24, 1917. [1] Additionally, recipients included those who performed duty with the Mexican Border Patrol between January 1, 1916 and April 6, 1917. [1]
The Mexican Border Service Medal recognized military service members who were assigned to the U.S.-Mexico border when the United States was engaged in the Pancho Villa Expedition, a military operation conducted against the paramilitary forces of Francisco "Pancho" Villa during the Mexican Revolution. [2] The U.S.-Mexico border was a potential location for a German-funded invasion by Mexico, which was exposed by British interception of the Zimmerman Telegram, a communication that detailed Germany's proposal for Mexico to ally with Germany if the United States entered World War I. [3]
Those who received the Mexican Service Medal were not eligible for the Mexican Border Service Medal. [1] The first recipient was Major General Charles M. Clement of Pennsylvania, in recognition of his status as the longest-tenured National Guard officer eligible for the award at the time it was authorized. [4] Congress created a similar award for members of the Texas National Guard who served on the border between December 8, 1917 to November 11, 1918, the Texas Cavalry Medal. [5]
As approved by the U.S. Congress: [6]
The medal of bronze is 1 1/4 inches in diameter. On the obverse is a sheathed Roman sword hanging on a tablet on which is inscribed For service on the Mexican border. The tablet is surrounded by a wreath. The reverse is the same as that of the Spanish War Service Medal. The medal is suspended by a ring from a silk moire ribbon 1 3/8 inches in length and 1 3/8 inches in width composed of a green band (7/16 inch), yellow band (1/2 inch), and green band (7/16 inch).
The Zimmermann Telegram was a secret diplomatic communication issued from the German Foreign Office in January 1917 that proposed a military alliance between the German Empire and Mexico if the United States entered World War I against Germany. With Germany's aid, Mexico would recover Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The telegram was intercepted by British intelligence.
The World War II Victory Medal is a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945.
The Spanish War Service Medal was a United States military medal of the U.S. Army which was established by an act of the U.S. Congress on 9 July 1918. The medal recognizes those members of the Army and of the U.S. Volunteers who performed active duty during the Spanish–American War, but did not qualify for the Spanish Campaign Medal.
The Army of Puerto Rican Occupation Medal was a service medal of the United States Army which was created by order of the United States War Department on 4 February 1919. A retrospective award created decades after the action commemorated, the medal recognized Army service from 14 August through 10 December 1898 in Puerto Rico. The Army of Puerto Rican Occupation Medal was commemorative by nature although was approved for wear on active military uniforms. A similar medal, the Army of Cuban Occupation Medal was created for occupation service in Cuba following the Spanish–American War. The regulations for the Army of Cuban Occupation Medal were re-written to include regulations for the Army of Puerto Rican Occupation Medal.
Major General Hugh Lenox Scott was a United States Army officer. A West Point graduate of 1876, he served as superintendent of West Point from 1906 to 1910 and as chief of staff of the United States Army from 1914 to 1917, which included the first few months of American involvement in World War I.
Ulysses Simpson Grant III was a United States Army officer and planner. He was the son of Frederick Dent Grant, and the grandson of General of the Army and American President Ulysses S. Grant.
Edward Martin was an American lawyer, military officer and Republican party politician from Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. He served as the 32nd governor of Pennsylvania from 1943 until 1947 and as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1947 until 1959.
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Clarence Self Ridley served as the governor of the Panama Canal Zone from 1936 to 1940.
The United States involvement in the Mexican Revolution was varied and seemingly contradictory, first supporting and then repudiating Mexican regimes during the period 1910–1920. For both economic and political reasons, the U.S. government generally supported those who occupied the seats of power, but could withhold official recognition. The U.S. supported the regime of Porfirio Díaz after initially withholding recognition since he came to power by coup. In 1909, Díaz and U.S. President Taft met in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, Texas. Prior to Woodrow Wilson's inauguration on March 4, 1913, the U.S. Government focused on just warning the Mexican military that decisive action from the U.S. military would take place if lives and property of U.S. nationals living in the country were endangered. President William Howard Taft sent more troops to the US-Mexico border but did not allow them to intervene directly in the conflict, a move which Congress opposed. Twice during the Revolution, the U.S. sent troops into Mexico, to occupy Veracruz in 1914 and to northern Mexico in 1916 in a failed attempt to capture Pancho Villa. U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America was to assume the region was the sphere of influence of the U.S., articulated in the Monroe Doctrine. However the U.S. role in the Mexican Revolution has been exaggerated. It did not directly intervene in the Mexican Revolution in a sustained manner.
The Battle of Columbus, March 9, 1916, began as a raid conducted by remnants of Pancho Villa's Division of the North on the small United States border town of Columbus, New Mexico, located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the border with Mexico. The raid escalated into a full-scale battle between Villistas and the United States Army.
Mexico was a neutral country in World War I, which lasted from 1914 to 1918. The war broke out in Europe in August 1914 as the Mexican Revolution was in the midst of full-scale civil war between factions that had helped oust General Victoriano Huerta from the presidency earlier that year. The Constitutionalist Army of Venustiano Carranza under the generalship of Alvaro Obregón defeated the army of Pancho Villa in the Battle of Celaya in April 1915.
Major General Edward Fenton McGlachlin Jr. was a United States Army officer who distinguished himself during World War I.
The Mexican Border War, or the Border Campaign, refers to the military engagements which took place in the Mexican–American border region of North America during the Mexican Revolution. The period of the war encompassed World War I, and the German Empire attempted to have Mexico attack the United States, as well as engaging in hostilities against American forces there itself.
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Fay B. Prickett was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the Pancho Villa Expedition, World War I, and World War II, he was most notable for his Second World War command of the 75th Infantry Division, and his post-war command of the 10th Armored Division, 4th Armored Division, and 1st Constabulary Brigade. He attained the rank of major general, and his awards included the Legion of Merit with Oak leaf cluster and Bronze Star Medal.
Oliver Lyman Spaulding Jr. was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the China Relief Expedition, Philippine–American War, Pancho Villa Expedition, World War I, and World War II, he attained the rank of brigadier general, and was a recipient of the Army Distinguished Service Medal and Legion of Merit from the United States, and the Order of the Black Star (Commander) from France.
John Fitz Madden was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the U.S. response to the Garza Revolution, Spanish–American War, United States Military Government in Cuba, Philippine–American War, Pancho Villa Expedition, and World War I, he attained the rank of brigadier general and was a recipient of the French Legion of Honor (Officer) for his First World War service. Madden served in both high level staff positions, including chief quartermaster of the Pancho Villa Expedition, and important commands, including the 26th Infantry Regiment and the Hawaiian Division's 21st Infantry Brigade.
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