out his active duty in the Marine Corps as Commander of the Advanced Base Force at Philadelphia Navy Yard from 8 January 1917 until his retirement in June 1920. According to the entry in Webster's American Military Biographies, L.W.T. Waller was "reputed to have taken part in more actions than any other Marine officer of the period." Major General Waller lived in retirement in Philadelphia until his death on 13 July 1926 at the age of 69. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. In 1942, the destroyer (DD-466) was named in his honor. Waller Drive in Huntingdon Valley, PA is named after him. A residential cul-de-sac, the street and all of the properties along it were originally part of the estate surrounding the house he had built in 1916, in suburban Philadelphia. Memberships General Waller was a member of the Military Order of Foreign Wars, Military Order of the Dragon and the Military Order of the Carabao. The decorations and medals of General Waller General Waller was one of the very few recipients, possibly the only, of both the Brevet Medal and Specially Meritorious Service Medal. With only 23 and 93 total awards respectively, they are two of the rarest decorations in American military history. (By way of comparison, there have been over 3,000 awards of the Medal of Honor and over 600 of the Gold Lifesaving Medal.) Marine Corps Brevet Medal Waller was one of only twenty living Marine officers whose gallantry in action during the Civil War, Spanish–American War, Philippine Campaign and the Boxer Rebellion had been recognized by a brevet commission. Waller's medal recognized his promotion to the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel, "for distinguished conduct and public service in the presence of the enemy near Tientsin, China", on 13 July 1900. He had retired prior to the creation of the medal, but went to Washington to receive it. Specially Meritorious Service Medal The letter of August 3, 1904, awarding this medal to Waller "in recognition of your gallant conduct in assisting in rescuing crews from the burning Spanish ships after the battle of Santiago de Cuba on July 3, 1898" is reproduced above. This is one of only 93 known awards of the decoration, given for "specially meritorious service, otherwise than in battle, during the Spanish–American War". It was not awarded before the war with Spain, nor since. Because it recognizes heroism not in direct