Lieutenant Talbot was buried in the military cemetery of Les Barracques, in the little town of Sangatte, three or four kilometers from Calais. He had been officially credited with one enemy plane and cited for bravery. After his death the Medal of Honor was awarded to him by the Navy Department.

The following letter from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy in Washington, written on Armistice Day, 1920, gives fully the circumstances of the award and the accompanying citation:

"In the name of Congress, the President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Ralph Talbot (deceased), 2d Lt. U.S.M.C. for service above and beyond the call of duty during the World War, as set forth in the following:

"For exceptionally meritorious service and extraordinary heroism while attached to Squadron C, First Marine Aviation Force in France. He participated in numerous air raids into enemy territory, and on October 8, 1918, while on such a raid, he was attacked by nine enemy scouts, and in the fight that followed shot down an enemy plane. Also on October 14, 1918, while on an air raid over Pittham, Belguim, Lieutenant Talbot and one other plane became detached from the formation due to loss of power by motor, and were attacked by twelve enemy scouts. During the severe fight that followed his plane shot down one of the enemy scouts. His observer was shot through the elbow and his gun jammed. He cleared the jam with one hand while Lieutenant Talbot maneuvered to gain time, and then returned to fight. The observer fought on until shot twice in the stomach and once in the hip. When he collapsed Lieutenant Talbot attacked the nearest enemy scout with his front guns and shot him down. With his observer unconscious and his motor failing he dived to escape the balance of the enemy and crossed the German trenches at an altitude of fifty feet, landing at the nearest hospital and left his observer and returned along to his aerodrome."

In June, 1917, Ralph Talbot left Yale University to join the DuPont Aviation School in Wilmington, Delaware. In November he entered federal service in Boston. He took his ground school training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was then sent to Key West, Florida. There he was commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Naval Flying Corps, on 8 April 1918. At Miami, Florida, he was transferred to the USMCR Flying Corps and commissioned a second lieutenant on 26 May, and in mid-July was sent overseas with the 1st Marine Corps Aviation Force.

With some other American pilots, Lieutenant Talbot was sent to a British school, called the "Pilots' Pool". When he finished his course, the first of his squadron, he was given its only De Haviland 4 with Liberty motor, to operate with the British. They were at that time engaged in dropping "bully beef" to a detachment of French troops cut off from their supply base. Lieutenant Talbot used to laugh about his "aerial grocery business," but one of his comrades described its dangers: "the tins were dropped from under five hundred feet, and the ships were exposed to a terrific machine gun and rifle fire." Later Lieutenant Talbot went high-bombing with the British, bombing Ostend and Bruges from 12,000 feet. His machine was so fast that he was given the difficult task of protecting the rear of the squadron. On one of his earliest raids, while the squadron was engaged in a running fight with a superior number of Germans, he brought down the Boche plane for which he was given official credit.