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The Thomas Jefferson Star for Foreign Service is an award of the United States Department of State. It is presented to employees of State, USAID, and civilian contractors assigned to diplomatic and consular facilities for events that lead to death or serious illness or injury. It is roughly comparable to the U.S. military's Purple Heart, but since the criteria for the award is so strict, nearly all of them are awarded posthumously. The award consists of a gold medal set and a certificate signed by the Secretary of State and the President of the United States. The initial regulations limited the issuance of the Thomas Jefferson Star for Foreign Service, originally known as the Foreign Service Star, only to members of the U.S. Foreign Service personnel system who were killed or seriously injured. The rules were later changed to allow for members of other personnel systems killed while working on behalf of a foreign affairs agency. There had been controversy about the name of the award, which suggested that only diplomats serving under the Foreign Service personnel system were eligible. As a result, Secretary of State Colin Powell proposed changing the name of the award from the Foreign Service Star to simply the Thomas Jefferson Star, naming it for the Founding Father who served as the first Secretary of State. The American Foreign Service Association and the Foreign Affairs Council resisted the proposal while many others strongly supported it. In the end, the words "Foreign Service" were maintained as part of the name. ==Eligibility== Any civilian employee of any agency, including Foreign Service Nationals (appointed under Section 303 of the Foreign Service Act), non-family member U.S. citizen employees hired at post (appointed under Section 303 and appointed under Section 311 (a) of the Foreign Service Act), and U.S. citizens and foreign nationals serving under a Personal Services Contract or Personal Services Agreement (if eligibility for the award is authorized in their contracts), are eligible for the Foreign Service Star Award as long as the employee is: : (1) Under the administrative direction of State or USAID; : (2) Employed at, or assigned permanently or temporarily to an official mission abroad, or while traveling abroad on official business; and : (3) Killed or incurs a serious illness or injury which requires hospitalization or similar treatment and which results in incapacity or disability that prevents the employee from performing his or her official duties or adversely affects his or her ability to obtain medical clearance, while the employee: :: (a) Is performing official duties; :: (b) Is located on the premises of a U.S. mission abroad; or alternatively, :: (c) By reason of the individual's status as U.S. Government employee. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thomas Jefferson Star for Foreign Service」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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