Navy Cross vs medal

Navy Cross and medal both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
Navy Cross	Yes	No	No	No
medal	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, medal is a hypernym of Navy Cross; that is, medal is a word with a broader meaning than Navy Cross:

Navy Cross: a United States Navy decoration for extraordinary heroism against an armed enemy
medal: an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event

Other hypernyms of Navy Cross include decoration, laurel wreath, medallion, palm, ribbon.

Navy Cross (noun)	medal (noun)
a United States Navy decoration for extraordinary heroism against an armed enemy	an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event