Statement by the President Upon Signing Orders Relating to Meritorious Awards for Wartime Services.

BELIEVING that the period for which recognition should be given for wartime services considered adequate for the conferring of the Medal for Merit should conform insofar as possible with that for military decorations, I have signed an Executive order amending Executive Order 9637 of October 3, 1945, fixing December 31, 1946, as the terminal date for wartime services for which the Medal for Merit may be awarded, with the initiating recommendations to be submitted not later than June 30, 1947. This decision has been reached in view of the fact that I proclaimed the date of the termination of hostilities of World War II to be December 31, 1946, and because Public Law 444, approved June 26, 1946, states that an act or service justifying the award of certain military decorations shall end with the date of the termination of hostilities as proclaimed by the President or the Congress, and that initiating recommendations must be submitted not later than 6 months after the termination of hostilities.

I have also signed an Executive order, amending Executive Order 9734 of June 6, 1946, which fixes the same terminal date for services for which the President's Certificate of Merit may be awarded, as well as the date by which such proposals must be submitted. This latter action terminates the President's Certificate of Merit, since the Executive order creating it expressly states that the award shall be given "to any civilian who . . . has performed a meritorious act or service which has aided the United States or any nation engaged with the United States in the prosecution of World War II."