According to these documents, he has the following in order from lowest to highest precedence: Vietnam Campaign Medal Republic of Vietnam MUC Civil Action Medal Color with Palm Republic of Vietnam MUC Gallantry Cross Color with Palm Vietnam Service Medal with 4 Bronze Stars National Defense Service MEdal Navy Unit Citation Presidential Unit Citation Purple Heart (3 awards) Bronze Star with Combat "V" Silver Star with Combat "V" Here are my questions: On the citation for the Vietnam Serivce medal, I cannot make out how many stars on the original document. Does anybody know what campaigns he was involved in to be awarded four stars in addition to the medal? Ordinarily, the Combat "V" device is awarded for Valor in combat. As the Silver Star is only awarded for gallantry, the Combat "V" device would be redundant and is not awarded with the Silver Star under any circumstances. Does anybody know what the explanation for a Combat "V" device being listed with the Silver Star on the DD214 is?

dupe

Quoted: dupe

Link to original, please.

I googled it and this is what I got....

Established by Congress on 09 JUL 1918. For each Citation received by US Army personnel for gallantry in action, not sufficient to warrant the Medal of Honor or the Distinguished Service Cross, a 'Silver Star', 3/16-inch in diameter was authorized for wear on the suspension and service ribbons of appropriate service medals (World War I Victory Medal). This award was called the 'Citation Star'. On 08 AUG 1932, this decoration was revised by Congress and redesigned to its present form. "For Gallantry in Action Against an Opposing Armed Force." Second and subsequent awards are denoted by bronze Oak Leaf Clusters; a silver Oak Leaf Cluster is worn in lieu of five bronze.

 
I could not find any mention of a "Combat  "V" " to be awarded with a Silver star. The Bronze Star can be awarded for meritorous service as well as combat gallantry hence the "Combat V" to denote the difference.

Just another lie that the traitorous piece of shit has told.

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=266268

Quoted: Quoted: dupe Link to original, please.

Ditto – I don’t remember it.

The five awards of the Vietnam campaign ribbon has to be wrong.  See:
www.history.navy.mil/faqs/stream/faq45-25.htm, bottom of the page.

The “V” device on a Silver Star is also a new one to me.

Might be just mistakes.  FWIW, when I left the service, my DD214 was pretty messed up, too.  (I didn’t even look at the time, because all I wanted was OUT!!)


Edited to add:  Oops – I guessed I missed the prior thread!

Kerry has apparently already had his DD214 re-written several times since he got into politics including getting his Silver Star commendation re-written and signed by Navy Sec. Lehman in the 1980s.

GunLvr

Quoted: Kerry has apparently already had his DD214 re-written several times since he got into politics including getting his Silver Star commendation re-written and signed by Navy Sec. Lehman in the 1980s. GunLvr

Is that Kosher ???

If true I would be very interested in that.

Quoted: Quoted: Kerry has apparently already had his DD214 re-written several times since he got into politics including getting his Silver Star commendation re-written and signed by Navy Sec. Lehman in the 1980s. GunLvr Is that Kosher ??? If true I would be very interested in that.

I don't know if it is kosher, but a retired Navy Yeoman I know has been following this closely and clued me in about the Silver Star with V.  Kerry has obviously been sceming to run for President as a war hero for a long time.

GunLvr

The Vietnamese Service ribbon with four stars makes me suspicous.   The stars represent campaign periods that were usually at least two months long. I don't belive there is anyway he could have four when he was only there for 4 1/2 months.  I was there for a year and only rate three!

Quoted: The Vietnamese Service ribbon with four stars makes me suspicous.   The stars represent campaign periods that were usually at least two months long. I don't belive there is anyway he could have four when he was only there for 4 1/2 months.  I was there for a year and only rate three!

This sounds like it would be hard to figure out unless you had the exact dates of each campaign along with the serviceman's dates in country.  Here are the campaigns listed on the Army's website:

VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL:        c. Soldiers receiving the Vietnam Service Medal are authorized to wear a bronze star to indicate each campaign. There are 17 designated campaigns during the period of 15 March 1962 through 28 January 1973. Units which receive campaign credit for any of the campaigns would display a streamer with inscription as shown on the unit's lineage and honors. The designated campaigns are:     Vietnam Advisory 1962-1965     Vietnam Defense 1965     Vietnam Counteroffensive 1965-1966     Vietnam Phase II 1966 - 1967     Vietnam Counteroffensive Phase III 1967-1968     Tet Counteroffensive 1968     Vietnam Counteroffensive Phase IV 1968     Vietnam Counteroffensive Phase V 1968     Vietnam Counteroffensive Phase VI 1968-1969     Tet 69 Counteroffensive 1969     Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969     Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970     Sanctuary Counteroffensive 1970     Vietnam Counteroffensive Phase VII 1970-1971     Consolidation I 1971     Consolidation II 1971-1972     Vietnam Cease-Fire 1972-1973

There are a lot of campaigns listed in 1968, so without knowing what dates they covered and which ones he is claiming, it's hard to tell.  And it certainly wouldn't be the first time that awards showed up on a DD 214 that someone wasn't entitled to.  I had an E4 in my first platoon that was a 19K tanker, and his DD 214 said that he had earned the Expert Infantryman's Badge (EIB), a qualification badge that a tanker isn't even authorized to wear.

Every serviceman should know what qualifications and awards they are entitled to, and most people take a personal interest in ensuring that their records are accurate, whether for promotion purposes or just personal pride.  I'm constantly updating my records with various training certificates and other small details, because 75% of the time, documents don't show up there automatically.  So if someone like John Kerry had changes made on their DD 214, it's not necessarily wrong, especially in the days before everything was computerized.  He could have made additions to it based on documents he had in his personal files that never made it into the 214.  People shouldn't assume it's a conspiracy just because he made changes / additions - you need to look at each individual item to see if they are legitimate or not.

Dave

Interesting!! - I guess my understanding of the Vietnam service medal stars is incorrect.

I always assumed any stars were subsequent awards of the medal and thus if you served in four campaigns, you got three stars.

Anyway, the exact dates of each campaign are in the link I cited above.

here is the list of campaign dates, the ones with the asterisks are the period of time Kerry was in VN.

1.  Vietnam Advisory Campaign - 15 March 1962 - 7 March 1965
2.  Vietnam Defense Campaign - 8 March - 24 December 1965
3.  Vietnamese Counteroffensive - 25 December 1965 - 30 June 1966
4.  Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase II  - 1 July 1966 - 31 May 1967
5.  Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase III  - 1 June 1967 - 29 January 1968
6.  Tet Counteroffensive - 30 January - l April 1968
7.  Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase IV - 2 April - 30 June 1968
8.  Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase V - 1 July - l November 1968
9.  Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase VI  - 2 November 1968 - 22 February 1969 *
10. Tet 69/Counteroffensive - 23 February - 8 June 1969*
11. Vietnam Summer - Fall 1969 - 9 June - 31 October 1969
12. Vietnam Winter - Spring 1970 - 1 November 1969 - 30 April 1970
13. Sanctuary Counteroffensive - 1 May - 30 June 1970
14. Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase VII  - l July 1970 - 30 June 1971
15. Consolidation I  - 1 July 1971 - 30 November 1971
16. Consolidation II  - 1 December 1971 - 29 March 1972
17. Vietnam Ceasefire Campaign - 30 March 1972 - 28 January 1973

If I've got it right he was there from mid-November '68 til some time in March '69.

So he only rates the ribbon and ONE star.