The War Merit Cross is an Italian military decoration. It was instituted by King Victor Emmanuel III during World War I on 19 January 1918. The award received major changes during World War II and currently is issued by the Italian Republic as well.
War Merit Cross version awarded in the Kingdom of Italy
Tasker Howard Bliss was a United States Army officer who served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army during World War I, from September 22, 1917 until May 18, 1918. He was also a diplomat involved in the peace negotiations of the war, and was one of the co-signatories of the Treaty of Versailles for the United States.
General Tasker H. Bliss in May 1918 during World War I.
General Tasker Bliss c. 1910s
The delegation of the United States (centered: John J. Pershing, General Tasker H. Bliss, President Woodrow Wilson, Edward Mandell House, Henry White, Robert Lansing) signing the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. – National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, Smithsonian Institution, NPG.65.83, oil on canvas from John Christen Johansen.
British King George V with Generals Tasker H. Bliss and John J. Pershing inspecting American troops from U.S. II Corps, 6 August 1918.