Boxed Distinguished Service Cross.

Boxed Distinguished Service Cross with Ribbon Bar and Lapel Pin, mint condition, GRACO GI marked.

The Army Distinguished Service Cross Medal (DSC) is a U.S. Army decoration given for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force. Operations which merit the DSC need to be of such a high degree to be above those mandatory for all other U.S. combat decorations but not meeting the criteria for the Medal of Honor. The DSC is equivalent to the Navy Cross (Navy and Marine Corps) and the Air Force Cross (Air Force). The DSC was first established and awarded during World War I. In accession, a number of awards were delegated for actions preceding World War I. In many cases, these were to soldiers who had acquired a Certificate of merit for gallantry which, at the time, was the only other honor beyond the Medal of Honor the Army could give. Others were delayed acknowledgement of actions in the Philippines, on the Mexican Border and during the Boxer Rebellion. This decoration should not be mistaken for the Distinguished Service Medal, which distinguishes meritorious service to the government of the U.S. (as a senior military officer or government official) rather than individual acts of bravery (as a member of the U.S. Army).