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The Prisoner of War Medal is a military award of the United States armed forces which was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on 8 November 1985. The United States Code citation for the POW Medal statute is 10 U.S.C. 1128.
The Prisoner of War Medal may be awarded to any person who was a prisoner of war after April 5, 1917, (the date of the United States entry into World War I was the 6th).
It is awarded to any person who was taken prisoner or held captive while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing Armed Force; or while serving with friendly forces engaged in armed conflict against an opposing Armed Force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.
As of an amendment to Title 10 of the United States Code in 1989, the medal is also awarded for captivity by foreign armed forces that are hostile to the United States, under circumstances which the Secretary concerned finds to have been comparable to those under which persons have generally been held captive by enemy armed forces during periods of armed conflict. The person's conduct, while in captivity, must have been honorable. This medal may be awarded posthumously to the surviving next of kin of the recipient.
The medal was designed by Jay C. Morris of the United States Army Institute of Heraldry.
