Captain Kirk's Starfleet Medal of Honor
The Starfleet Medal of Honor was an award that was given, by Starfleet, to recognize the valor and bravery in action of those officers who went "above and beyond the call of duty".
Overview[]
It was first created on stardate 0/9105 by the United Earth Alliance Parliament. The Medal of Honor was considered the highest decoration that could be bestowed by Starfleet Command and the United Federation of Planets and was given to individuals who showed self-sacrifice, heroism and courage despite extreme peril that they faced whilst serving the Federation. As the recipients of these decorations were considered the embodiment of the highest ideals of the Federation, their descendants were automatically considered as possible cadets for Starfleet Academy should they choose to pursue such a career. It was a stylized UFP symbol which was superimposed on a sold gold disk set against a silver, five pointed star. A decoration was attached to a red, white and blue vertical striped ribbon. (FASA RPG module: Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual)
History[]
Captain Delrin Toval of the USS Hindenberg was one such officer awarded this medal on Stardate 219005.12 for his heroism in helping to evacuate his crew without the loss of a single life after an unprovoked attack from warships of the Klingon Empire. (FASA RPG module: Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual)
Burnham and Discovery's crew with their medals
Following the Federation-Klingon War of 2256-57 the medal of honor was awarded to Michael Burnham, Saru, Sylvia Tilly, Paul Stamets, Hugh Culber, Airiam, Joann Owosekun, and Keyla Detmer. (DSC episode: "Will You Take My Hand?")
In his forty-two year career in Starfleet, James T. Kirk was the recipient of three medals of honor, one of which he gained in 2255, for his efforts in fighting against pirates while serving aboard the USS Farragut. The medal of honor was, in fact, his first ever award and he kept the award in a special display box alongside the copy of the deeds to Garrovick Valley and Farragut River on Centaurus, which were owned by Kirk's one-man company, Starstruck, Inc. (TOS novels: The Fire and the Rose, Crisis on Centaurus)
While under the influence of alien spores from Omicron Ceti III, the sight of his medal of honor seemed to help create the strong emotions that allowed him to overcome the spores. (TOS episodes: "Court Martial", "This Side of Paradise")
Prior to 2365, Lieutenant Commander Data was also a recipient of a medal of honor. (TNG episode: "The Measure of a Man")
Benjamin Sisko intended to recommend Elias Vaughn for the Medal of Honor, after Vaughn fought and was critically injured at Alonis during the Borg Invasion of 2381. (ST - Typhon Pact novel: Rough Beasts of Empire)
Appendices[]
Known recipients[]
- Captain Delrin Toval[1]
- Captain James T. Kirk (3 time recipient) [2] [3]
- Commander Saru (the first Kelpien to receive the medal)[4]
- Commander Michael Burnham[4]
- Ensign Sylvia Tilly[4]
- Lieutenant Commander Paul Stamets[4]
- Lieutenant Commander/Doctor Hugh Culber[4] (posthumously[5])
- Lieutenant Commander Airiam[4]
- Lieutenant junior grade Joann Owosekun[4]
- Lieutenant Gen Rhys[4]
- Lieutenant junior grade R.A. Bryce[4]
- Lieutenant Keyla Detmer[4]
- Lieutenant Commander Data[6]
- Rear Admiral George Foster[7]
Notes & References[]
- ↑ FASA RPG module: Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual
- ↑ TOS novels: The Fire and the Rose, Crisis on Centaurus
- ↑ TOS episodes: "Court Martial", "This Side of Paradise"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 DSC episode: "Will You Take My Hand?"
- ↑ DSC episode: "Despite Yourself"
- ↑ TNG episode: "The Measure of a Man"
- ↑ Last Unicorn RPG module: Starfleet Academy Handbook
External link[]
- Starfleet Medal of Honor article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.