may be bestowed directly upon civilians, including US Coast Guard civilian employees and contractors, while recommendations for award of the Lifesaving Medals to US military members will be coordinated with the servicemembers' parent Service; this provides not only notification to the relevant military commanders that their servicemember(s) were involved in a lifesaving event, but allows the opportunity for that commander to award a Service decoration such as the Soldier's Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Medal, Airman's Medal, or Coast Guard Medal, instead of the DHS-awarded Lifesaving Medals. Within the Coast Guard, as a non-DoD agency, the gold medal's precedence for wear is immediately following the Coast Guard Medal, while the silver medal's precedence for wear is immediately following the Air Medal. However, the appropriate precedence for display -- but not wear -- of the Lifesaving Medals in other Services is among the category of "Federal Agency personal decorations," directly below the Prisoner of War Medal. The Lifesaving Medal is unusual among U.S. medals because it is actually struck from the eponymous precious metal, silver or gold. Multiple awards of the Lifesaving Medal are denoted by award stars on the decoration's ribbon and a gold clasp, inscribed with the recipient's name, is worn on the actual medal. Since 1874, more than 600 Gold Lifesaving Medals and more than 1,900 Silver Lifesaving Medals have been awarded. Notable recipients Gold Medal Msg. Rodney Buentello, (retired), sacrificed his life rescuing two teens from the Medina River in Texas on June 8, 2016. Medal posthumously Awarded, August 1, 2017. William Babb, for the 1885 rescue of the American schooner A.C. Maxwell. Benjamin Dailey, keeper of the Cape Hatteras Lifeboat Station, led the rescue of the crew of the Ephraim Williams. Richard Etheridge, Benjamin Bowser, Dorman Pugh, Theodore Meekins, Lewis Wescott, Stanley Wise, and William Irving of the Pea Island Life-Saving Station, for rescue of the crew from the E.S. Newman on 11 October 1896. Awarded gold medals posthumously on 5 March 1996. George Freeth, a swimming instructor and the "Father of Modern Surfing", who rescued seven fishermen off Venice Beach during a winter storm in December 1908. Vice Admiral Harry G. Hamlet, U.S. Coast Guard – While in command of USS Marietta in the Bay of Biscay on 28 April 1919, rescued a crew of 47 persons from the sinking USS James Sergeant Marcus Hanna (lighthouse keeper) – Only person to receive both the Medal