World War II Victory Medal (United States)

World War II Victory Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Awarded by Department of the Army Department of the Navy
Type	Military service medal
Eligibility	Served in the armed forces between the dates of 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946.
Status	Inactive
Precedence
Next (higher)	European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
Equivalent	Merchant Marine World War II Victory Medal
Next (lower)	Army of Occupation Medal or Navy Occupation Service Medal
World War II Victory Medal ribbon (top) and streamer (bottom)

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 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945.

The World War II Victory Medal was first issued as a service ribbon referred to as the “Victory Ribbon.” By 1946, a full medal had been established which was referred to as the World War II Victory Medal. The medal was awarded to any member of the United States military, including members of the armed forces of the Government of the Philippine Islands, who served on active duty, or as a reservist, between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946.

The corresponding medal from the World War I is the World War I Victory Medal.

On 8 August 1946, the separate Merchant Marine World War II Victory Medal was established for members of the United States Merchant Marine who served during World War II.

The medal is awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive. The National Personnel Records Center has reported some cases of service members receiving the award for simply a few days of service. As the Second World War ended on 2 September 1945, there may be cases of service members who had enlisted, entered officer candidate school, or had been a cadet or midshipman at the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy or the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1946, receiving the medal without having been a veteran of World War II. The reason for this late date is that President Harry S. Truman did not declare an official end of hostilities until the last day of 1946.