Each branch has it's own design. Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel are awarded the Navy version.
Last rank that they held.
However,I'm not at *all* certain of this so I could *very* well be mistaken.
They are awarded in uniform, with their current rank. Meaning if a SSG (E-6) earned it as a SPC (E-4), the award would read “SPC So and So) but the award ceremony would occur in Class A’s with SSG rank.
Awards citations always refer to the individual in the rank held at the time the award was earned. The individual may wear a different rank at the time the award ceremony is held due to the administrative time required for the review process.
Rank achieved I believe.
Each branch has it's own design. Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel are awarded the Navy version.
You need to go to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society for the correct answer and if no answer is posted, submit your inquiry directly to them:
My own review shows that the MOH citation reflects the individual’s rank at the time of the action for which the award is being given. The individual wears his current uniform and rank when it is presented.
See thse articles on MOH receipient LTC Bruce P. Crandall, who was Major Crandall at the time of the action. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3250/crandall-bruce-p.php
https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/crandall/
For awards that are not posthumous, the pattern appears to be that the primary reference to their grade is the grade they held at the time of the award, with a parenthetical reference to the grade they held at the time of the action they are being recognized for.
An example here:
http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3216/anderson-webster.php
“Sfc. Anderson (then S/Sgt.), distinguished himself...”
You would wear the rank you now hold, retired at or were discharged at. Otherwise, you would be out of uniform. It’s no different than for any other medal or award.
Soooo,
A while back I worked at the Pentagon for a few years.
Every three weeks I had to work night shift and during my lunch i often visited its, “Hall of Hero’s”.
In it there are the stories of each Medal of Honor recipient.
Lot of tears I shed there. Lot of remarkable stories.
Lot of Great Americans.
I dont know of any MOH recipients who would have a different uniform by the time the awards ceremony was held. Whatever rank you held at the time of the ceremony is what rank you would wear. BTW, no one “wins” the Medal of Honor. It is awarded, not won through some contest.
I just received this response from the Medal of Honor Society...
Good afternoon,
Medal of Honor recipients would wear whatever their current/last rank is to receive the Medal. This follows military protocol. Once someone attains a higher rank, the higher rank becomes their uniform. Wearing the lower rank would not make sense.
I hope this information helps,
Laura
Laura S. Jowdy, C.A.
Archivist
Congressional Medal of Honor Society
Mt. Pleasant, SC
843-884-8862