Brigadier Sir John Galway Foster KBE , QC (21 February 1903 – 1 February 1982) was a British Conservative Party politician, British Army officer and legal scholar. He served as Member of Parliament for the Northwich constituency in Cheshire from 1945 to February 1974, and was Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations from 1951 to 1954.
35-656: The Foster Report is a 1971 report titled Enquiry into the Practice and Effects of Scientology , written by Sir John Foster for the government of the United Kingdom , regarding the Church of Scientology . The report made its case with L. Ron Hubbard 's own words and reprinted a number of the Church's internal Ethics Orders. It did not ban Scientology outright, but asked for legislation to ensure that psychotherapy in
70-668: A meritorious service medal, and provide designs in the event the decoration was established. Proposed designs prepared by Bailey, Banks, and Biddle, and the Office of the Quartermaster General were provided to the Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel (Colonel Heard) by the QMG on January 5, 1942. The Assistant Chief of Staff (G-1), Brigadier General John H. Hilldring, in a response to the QMG on April 3, 1942, indicated
105-630: The Croix de guerre (with palms) from France. After the war, he participated in the Nuremberg trials. One of Brigadier Foster's most admirable actions involved the liberation of the Nazi death camps. Initially, well-meaning Allied forces simply liberated the camps and moved on to their next objective. As a result, many of the weak and starving prisoners simply died. When Foster learned of this problem, he had several direct meetings with Winston Churchill with
140-576: The Department of Homeland Security with direct oversight of the U.S. Coast Guard . The degrees of Chief Commander, Commander, Officer, and Legionnaire are awarded only to members of armed forces of foreign nations under the criteria outlined in Army Regulation 672-7 and is based on the relative rank or position of the recipient as follows: When the Legion of Merit is awarded to members of
175-607: The Destroyer-for-Bases deal in 1940 and the Lend Lease Act in 1941. Miriam Rothschild writes that, "John had dealt with the trauma and wounds of his unhappy childhood by totally eliminating the past — his father’s death [in 1919], his mother’s desertion and his homelessness — and any possible emotive perturbations in the present." He had "a unique gift of augmenting and gilding the actual moment." Isaiah Berlin and Rothschild independently described Foster "as
210-407: The 1980s, the Legion of Merit began to be awarded more frequently to senior-ranking warrant officers (W-4 and W-5), as well as to senior enlisted service members (E-8 and E-9), usually as a retirement award. When not awarded as a retirement award, it is most commonly awarded to officers in pay grade O-6 and higher. The Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) was established in 1969 as a "junior" version of
245-657: The Army and later the Air Force, provided for the Legion of Merit to be awarded with a "V" device indicating awards for participation in combat operations. From 1942 to 1944, the Legion of Merit was awarded for a fairly wide range of achievements. This was because it was, until the establishment of the Bronze Star Medal in 1944, the only decoration below the Silver Star which could be awarded for combat valor, and
280-584: The Legion of Merit and prior to 2003 was only awarded for non-combat service. The MSM is awarded more frequently, and to more lower-ranking military personnel, than the Legion of Merit. Recipients of the MSM are usually in pay grades E-7 thru E-9, W-3 thru W-5 (Army Only), and O-4 thru O-6 for the Army, Air Force, and Space Force; for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard the MSM is usually presented to those in pay grades E-9, W-4, W-5, O-5 and O-6. The ribbon for all of
315-538: The Legion of Merit and provided that the medal "shall have suitable appurtenances and devices and not more than four degrees, and which the President, under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe, may award to The medal was announced in War Department Bulletin No. 40, dated August 5, 1942. Executive Order 9260, dated October 29, 1942, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt , established
350-537: The Secretary of War had approved the design recommended by the QMG. The design of the Legion of Merit (change of name) would be ready for issue immediately after legislation authorizing it was enacted into law. (A separate medal called the Meritorious Service Medal was established in 1969.) An act of Congress (Public Law 671, 77th Congress, Chapter 508, 2d Session) on July 20, 1942, established
385-743: The Space Force in the Space Force, and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps in the Marine Corps), but these instances are less frequent, typically by exception, and the circumstances vary by branch of service. Authority to award the Legion of Merit is reserved for general officers and flag officers in pay grade O-9 (i.e., lieutenant general , vice admiral ) and above, civilian Department of Defense personnel at assistant service secretary or Assistant Secretary of Defense level and above, or equivalent secretary-level civilian personnel with
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#1732791238745420-800: The United Kingdom is "a restricted profession open only to those who undergo an appropriate training and are willing to adhere to a proper code of ethics ," and that the Scientology ethics and justice system did not meet such criteria. Documents seized by the FBI in raids on the Church's US headquarters in July 1977 revealed that an agent had been sent to investigate Sir John Foster in an attempt to link him to Paulette Cooper , author of The Scandal of Scientology and victim of Operation Freakout . The documents showed that Lord Balniel , who had requested
455-729: The award for her service during the defense of the Philippines. LTJG Bernatitus was also the first recipient of the Legion of Merit authorized to wear a Combat "V" with the medal. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was presented the Legion of Merit by President Roosevelt while he was en route to the Tehran Conference , in Cairo, Egypt , on November 26, 1943. In 1943, at the request of the Army Chief of Staff , General George C. Marshall , approval authority for U.S. personnel
490-729: The care of a governess, first in France and then at school in Germany." Apparently, the governess was harsh, strict, and unloving. John Foster was a scholar of Eton College and achieved a first in modern history at New College, Oxford in 1924. He was elected a Fellow of All Souls the same year. He then entered the study of law and was called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 1927. He was appointed Recorder of Dudley (1936–38) and Recorder of Oxford (1938–51 & 1956–64). He lectured on private International Law at Oxford (1934–39) and The Hague. In 1939, he
525-478: The country of the award's origin. In October 1942, Brazilian Army Brigadier General Amaro Soares Bittencourt became the first person awarded the Legion of Merit (Commander) and a week later, Lieutenant, junior grade Ann A. Bernatitus , a U.S. Navy Nurse Corps officer, became the first member of the United States Armed Forces and the first woman to receive the Legion of Merit. She received
560-571: The date " MDCCLXXXII " (1782), which is the date of America's first decoration, the Badge of Military Merit , now known as the Purple Heart . The ribbon design also follows the pattern of the Purple Heart ribbon. Additional awards of the Legion of Merit are denoted by oak leaf clusters (in the Army, Air Force, and Space Force), and by 5 ⁄ 16 inch (7.9 mm) gold stars (in
595-539: The decorations is 1 + 3 ⁄ 8 inches (35 mm) wide and consists of the following stripes: 1 ⁄ 16 inch (1.6 mm) white; center 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 inches (32 mm) crimson; and 1 ⁄ 16 inch (1.6 mm) white. The reverse of all of the medals has the motto taken from the Great Seal of the United States , " ANNUIT COEPTIS " ("He [God] has favored our undertakings") and
630-507: The degrees above Legionnaire to United States military personnel. The Legion of Merit is similar to the French Legion of Honor in both its design, a five-armed cross, and in that it is awarded in multiple degrees. Unlike the Legion of Honor, however, the Legion of Merit is only awarded to military personnel. In addition, it is the only award in the world with multiple degrees of which the higher degrees cannot be awarded to citizens of
665-857: The degrees including a neck ribbon are only awarded to non-U.S. nationals. The Legion of Merit is seventh in the order of precedence of all U.S. military awards and is worn after the Defense Superior Service Medal and before the Distinguished Flying Cross . In contemporary use in the U.S. Armed Forces, the Legion of Merit is typically awarded to Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force general officers and colonels , and Navy and Coast Guard flag officers and captains occupying senior command or very senior staff positions in their respective services. It may also be awarded to officers of lesser rank, senior warrant officers (typically in command positions at
700-473: The design of the decoration were influenced by the French Legion of Honour ( Légion d'honneur ). Although recommendations for creation of a medal for meritorious service were initiated as early as September 1937, no formal action was taken toward approval. In a letter to the Quartermaster General (QMG) dated December 24, 1941, the Adjutant General formally requested action be initiated to create
735-661: The greatest life enhancer we had ever met." Foster got on well with the Americans. Isaiah Berlin , who was in Washington, DC in 1940, said that Foster was "very, very popular and never had less than two or three hundred friends." The United States awarded him the Legion of Merit during his service with the British Embassy. By 1944, he had established himself as a capable attorney with a broad and deep understanding of
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#1732791238745770-554: The international law. That year, he was appointed chief of the legal section in General Dwight Eisenhower 's, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). In order to facilitate his relationships with the military forces, he was given the rank of brigadier . Foster later quipped: "One must start somewhere." In addition to the American Legion of Merit, he was awarded the Legion of Honour and
805-534: The official inquiry, was also a target. Hubbard had written, "get a detective on that lord's past to unearth the tit-bits". Several official inquiries were made into Scientology in England, Australia, and elsewhere, and a number of reports were published by respective governments in the late sixties and early seventies. This Scientology -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . John Foster (MP for Northwich) John Galway Foster
840-536: The only decoration below the Distinguished Service Medal which could be awarded for meritorious noncombat service. After the establishment of the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) in February 1944, the Legion of Merit was awarded almost exclusively to senior officers in the rank of lieutenant colonel (Army, Marine Corps and Air Force) or commander (Navy and Coast Guard) (O-5), and above. Beginning in
875-637: The performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight uniformed services of the United States as well as to military and political figures of foreign governments. The Legion of Merit (Commander degree) is one of only two United States military decorations to be issued as a neck order (the other being the Medal of Honor ), and the only United States military decoration that may be issued in degrees (much like an order of chivalry or certain Orders of Merit), although
910-422: The rank of chief warrant officer 5), and to very senior enlisted personnel (typically in the rank of command sergeant major and Sergeant Major of the Army in the Army, fleet master chief petty officer and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy in the Navy, command chief master sergeant and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force in the Air Force, command chief master sergeant and Chief Master Sergeant of
945-468: The result that an effective procedure was put in place to provide the prisoners with needed care and protection. In 1945, Northwich in Cheshire elected him a Conservative member of Parliament, and he served Northwich until 1974. From 1951–54, he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Commonwealth Relations. He took silk in 1950. Foster devoted most of his post-war career to the practice of law and to
980-560: The rules for the Legion of Merit, and required the President's approval for the award. Following the invasion of North Africa in November 1942, a number of United States officers were awarded the Legion of Merit in the degree of Officer. One of the recipients was future Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lyman Lemnitzer . Soon after, regulations for the award of the Legion of Merit were revised so that it would not be awarded in
1015-415: The uniformed services of the United States, it is awarded without reference to degree. The criteria are "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements" and is typically reserved for senior officers at O-6 level and above, typically in connection with senior leadership/command positions or other senior positions of significant responsibility. The degrees and
1050-649: The vigorous advocacy of human rights, and was a co-founder of the law reform organisation JUSTICE . He especially worked as an advocate for victims of persecution. Miriam Rothschild describes in some detail his post-war efforts to assist victims of the Holocaust. In 1986 the John Galway Foster Human Rights Trust was established; in 2006 the name of the trust was expanded to The Miriam Rothschild & John Foster Human Rights Trust. This funds an annual lecture on human rights. Foster
1085-613: Was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1964, and died in London 1 February 1982. His obituary described him as "a genius Benthamite Utilitarian who believed in the maximization of human pleasure." He never married, although he enjoyed a 30-year relationship with the art historian Princess Lulie Abul-Huda Fevzi Osmanoglu . His executor destroyed the bulk of his papers dealing with his public life. He
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1120-657: Was born 21 February 1903 to Hubert John Foster and Mary Agatha Foster (née Tobin); he was their only child, but he had three half-siblings from his mother's previous marriage. His father was a British Army officer who served as Chief of the Australian General Staff from 1916 to 1917 during the First World War . Miriam Rothschild, who knew John well for many years, writes that he had a "lonely, confused and homeless childhood." Rather than care for or relate to their son, his parents "abandoned [him] to
1155-564: Was delegated to the Department of War . Executive Order 10600, dated March 15, 1955, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower , again revised approval authority. Current provisions are contained in Title 10, United States Code 1121. As a result, awarding authority for the Legion of Merit resides with general officers/flag officers at the Lieutenant General / Vice Admiral level or higher. The U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, unlike
1190-403: Was in the United States and volunteered his services to the British Embassy. He was immediately appointed First Secretary and legal advisor. During this period, the United States was still a non-belligerent, and President Roosevelt faced many difficult problems related to the international law of neutrality. Foster played a significant behind-the-scenes role working on neutrality issues related to
1225-561: Was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a world constitution . As a result, for the first time in human history, a World Constituent Assembly convened to draft and adopt the Constitution for the Federation of Earth . Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit ( LOM ) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in
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