Posted: 2/18/2009 1:47:55 PM EDT
| My dad was in Vietnam and earned two purple hearts over there. Some years before I was born he had them stolen. I was wondering if it is possible to get those purple hearts reissued to my dad. If so, where do I go or talk to about this? Thanks for the help..... |
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There is a place back east, were you can apply for replacement of medals...fill out SF180, there is generally no charge...may need a copy of his DD214....read the information at:http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/replacement-medals.html#army
Army Where to write for medals National Personnel Records Center 9700 Page Avenue St. Louis, MO 63132-5100 Where medals are mailed from U.S. Army TACOM Clothing and Heraldry (PSID) P.O. Box 57997 Philadelphia, PA 19111-7997 Where to write in case of a problem or an appeal Commander U.S. Army Human Resources Command Attn: TAPC-PDO-PA 200 Stovall Street Alexandria, VA 22332-0474 |
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+1 on the NPRC.
If your father is deceased then you may submit for his medals. If not, then he must personally submit for them. And you can not only request the two stolen Purple Hearts, but you may request a full issue of all his awards and medals. A soldier or their family may do this only once. Be prepared though for a wait. I was missing some awards and medals from Desert Storm and decided to request a full one-time re-issue of all my awards and medals. It took almost two years for the request to get processed and for me to receive my awards. You will also get a DD Form 215 which is an addendum to the 214, listing any awards earned, which were not previously awarded. Awards that can be engraved, will be engraved with the soldiers information. A pretty neat service for veterans. 
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...or, if you know someone whith PX priviledges currently, they can buy them in the clothing sales store part of the PX for you. Also, you can got to the website for Medals of America and buy them there. Remember, the actual medal and/or ribbon is not as important as you think, they can be replaced. It's the "authorizing" document that is important (orders, letter, DD214 etc.). With the documentation, you are able to replace the medals several ways. If he received two awards of the Purple Heart, you don't need two Purple Heart medals. The correct display would be one medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster on it.
Most of us here have awards where we've received the same award two, three, or even more times. You don't wear a separate medal or ribbon for each. You only wear one medal or ribbon with the correct number and color of oak leaf clusters on it. I have two awards of the Meritorious Service Medal. I wear one Meritorious Service Medal ribbon (I never wear the medal) with one bronze oak leaf cluster on it. Now I know that having the "original" awards he was presented with would be the best. Too bad they were stolen. Some jerk who was never authorized two purple hearts is probably wearing them. We used to call these "PX soldiers"! |
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Quoted:
...or, if you know someone whith PX priviledges currently, they can buy them in the clothing sales store part of the PX for you. Also, you can got to the website for Medals of America and buy them there. Remember, the actual medal and/or ribbon is not as important as you think, they can be replaced. It's the "authorizing" document that is important (orders, letter, DD214 etc.). With the documentation, you are able to replace the medals several ways. If he received two awards of the Purple Heart, you don't need two Purple Heart medals. The correct display would be one medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster on it. Most of us here have awards where we've received the same award two, three, or even more times. You don't wear a separate medal or ribbon for each. You only wear one medal or ribbon with the correct number and color of oak leaf clusters on it. I have two awards of the Meritorious Service Medal. I wear one Meritorious Service Medal ribbon (I never wear the medal) with one bronze oak leaf cluster on it. Now I know that having the "original" awards he was presented with would be the best. Too bad they were stolen. Some jerk who was never authorized two purple hearts is probably wearing them. We used to call these "PX soldiers"! Isn't it a gold star on a purple heart? Correct me if I'm wrong. |
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...or, if you know someone whith PX priviledges currently, they can buy them in the clothing sales store part of the PX for you. Also, you can got to the website for Medals of America and buy them there. Remember, the actual medal and/or ribbon is not as important as you think, they can be replaced. It's the "authorizing" document that is important (orders, letter, DD214 etc.). With the documentation, you are able to replace the medals several ways. If he received two awards of the Purple Heart, you don't need two Purple Heart medals. The correct display would be one medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster on it. Most of us here have awards where we've received the same award two, three, or even more times. You don't wear a separate medal or ribbon for each. You only wear one medal or ribbon with the correct number and color of oak leaf clusters on it. I have two awards of the Meritorious Service Medal. I wear one Meritorious Service Medal ribbon (I never wear the medal) with one bronze oak leaf cluster on it. Now I know that having the "original" awards he was presented with would be the best. Too bad they were stolen. Some jerk who was never authorized two purple hearts is probably wearing them. We used to call these "PX soldiers"! Isn't it a gold star on a purple heart? Correct me if I'm wrong. http://www.gruntsmilitary.com/devices.shtml |
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Isn't it a gold star on a purple heart? Correct me if I'm wrong. I assumed the OPs father was ARMY where the oak leaf cluster would be correct. Perhaps he was not Army. Hopefully, he'll tell us. USMC Well, now you other guys learned something. Army and Air Force use oak leaf clusters to denote multiple awards of the same medal (except for air medals and such where a numeral is used). The bronze and silver stars are only used on campaign ribbons (in the Army). |