Established by the United States Maritime Administration on 24 July 1956, the U.S. Merchant Marine Korean Service Medal was awarded for service in the merchant marine in the waters adjacent to Korea during the Korean conflict. The award was a ribbon-only decoration until 1992, when the Department of Transportation announced medals for civilian merchant seamen who had served during World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and other conflicts.
For the Korean Service medal, a chain around the periphery of the circular medal alludes to the maritime nature of the award, while a torii gate and taeguk (sometimes spelled “taeguk”) are images associated with Korea (a version of the taeguk is found on the flag of South Korea).
By the time North Korea launched its invasion of the South in 1950, operational command of the U.S. Merchant Marine had passed from the War Shipping Administration and Department of War services (Army Transportation Services, Navy Transportation, Fleet Support) to the Military Sea Transportation Service.
The new service showed the power of centralized authority by deploying the 24th Infantry Division from Japan to Pusan in South Korea by 6 July 1950, a mere 11 days after the North Korean invasion, then managed to land the 1st Cavalry Division and the 25th Infantry Division (both also in Japan) by 18 July. A month later, the entire 2nd Infantry Division was moved from Fort Lewis to Korea by the MSTS.
Arguably the finest moment for the Merchant Marine came during the evacuation of Hungnam following the massive Chinese counterattack in late November and early December 1951. On December 21, Captain Leonard LaRue of the SS Meredith Victory decided to remove all weapons, supplies, and materiel from his ship so as to accommodate as many refugees, soldiers and civilians alike, as possible. By the time the ship departed on December 23, more than 14,000 civilian refugees were aboard a ship designed for just a dozen passengers and lacking any means of defense—and all of them survived when the ship finally reached its destination of Geoje Island three days later. The crew was honored with a Korean Presidential Unit Citation and a Meritorious Service Medal from the U.S. Merchant Marine, and was designated a “Gallant Ship” through an act of Congress in 1960.