Military chaplain returned to their home nation unless retained to minister to prisoners of war. Inevitably, serving chaplains have died in action. The US Army and Marines lost 100 chaplains killed in action during World War II: the third highest casualty rate behind the infantry and the Army Air Forces. Many have been decorated for bravery in action (five have been awarded Britain's highest award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross, and nine have received the Medal of Honor). The Chaplain's Medal for Heroism is a special US military decoration given to military chaplains who have been killed in the line of duty,
Highest military ranks Highest military ranks In many nations the highest military ranks are classed as being equivalent to, or are officially described as, five-star ranks. However, a number of nations have used or proposed ranks such as "generalissimo" which are senior to their five-star equivalent ranks. This article summarises those ranks. Adopted from Italian ("generalissimo") and Latin ("generalissimus"), the rank titles literally mean "the utmost general". A number of countries, including the Republic of China, France, Russia, Venezuela, Brazil, Spain, Cuba, Mexico, Sweden and the USSR, have used these ranks. In most of these countries, the rank has only been held by