Vietnam Purple Heart Search

[Diamondrichlb]

Aloha,

I'm not sure this is the correct forum to post this into, but during a record search at home in regard to another issue I found a letter from a Captain to a Commanding General, United States Army Vietnam requesting I be awarded a Purple Heart for wounds suffered while flying a mission in the Vietnam Theater of Operations. I also have a copy of the treatment records from the emergency room. I remember the incident and going to the emergency room. I don't remember the application for the Purple Heart. The date of the letter requesting the Award was dated after my return from Vietnam. The Captain who took me to the emergency room has since died.

I requested a full records search from the National Personnel Records Center. When going thru the records they provided a couple months later, I do not see a request for the award of the PH, award of the PH, nor denial of the request for award of the PH. The letter from NPRC which came with the copy of my records states that since the PH is not shown as an awarded medal the request was turned down. It seems to me if the request was turned down there should be a record of the request and subsequent denial.

There is the issue that the mission I was flying was Top Secret. I don't know if it still is. That's way beyond my pay grade. Would that complicate the matter?

Can anyone suggest what my next step(s) should be?

Thanks for your help.

[GeekySquid]

1 minute ago, GBArmy said:

could see you really enjoying teaching philosophy, or maybe geometry.

don't forget Law, history, and politics

To me the past should not define us but should teach us and help shape us to be better.

The only way for that to happen is if we deal with facts instead of social and cultural myths about ourselves and others.

There are just some things that are true but get ignored or whitewashed because of historical myth.

One of which, and its a big one, is slavery. The following does not defend slavery, just addresses it.

Humans across time have enslaved their neighbors. Battle, Greed, Religion, and Debt have been part of our human history and all of those things led to one person owning another. As far back as the Code of Hammurabi written in 18th Century BCE the "right" to own another person has been enshrined in our laws and codified in ruling documents. Before that it was might versus might, but slaves were still taken.

It wasn't until the early 19th century that race became the public defining face of slavery.

The Barbary Pirates, Corsairs if you will, used to raid the European Coasts up to Iceland and enslave people. raiding villages and taking people into the night. The pirates operated out of Tunis and other African nations and were typically Africans of some flavor or another, but other groups in the Ottoman empire joined in so there were white, black, Spanish, Jewish, Muslim and Asian Barbary Pirates to name a few groups.

This was not race based but convenience based. These slaves were transported back to Africa and men sold to work in Quarries, Women as Household slaves and concubines and male children as part of the solider class of the Ottoman Empire. Female children suffered the worse fates in many cases. I will leave those details out of this post.

It wasn't until the 1600's that Portugal "found" africa and started buying African slaves in the market places and shipping them to the  West Indies and eventually America. eventually 10-12 million Africans were sold by other Africans to European slave traders. During this same period even more African Slaves were sold into Egypt and what we call the Middle East from the other coast of Africa.

India had slaves for century, African and Hindi slaves.

Egypt and the Middle East had African slaves for Centuries. That is who built the Pyramids.

Jesus said to be good to your slaves.

Romans, Vikings, Incans, Sumarians, and every other known culture had slaves. China, Asia, Viet Nam, Korea, etc all have histories of slave owning.

Human life was a commodity but one of little value and freedom was only for the wealthy and powerful.

It was not really until the middle 20th century that Human Life and Freedom for All became Socially accepted concepts.

It is fairly sad. Humanoids in shared living (villages etc) are about 50,000 years old. Yet is was not until about 50ish years ago that, globally, Human Life and Freedom became to be considered cultural and social norms.

To have a meaningful conversation about racism in this country we have to have a common understanding of the history of slavery and the inflection point when skin color became the defining face of slavery. We have to honestly admit that our ethnic ancestors were a bunch of jerks who did not value the lives of others outside their own social grouping. This was universal; not limited to any ethnic group.

People today don't want to take the time to find that historical fact. We operate on entrenched and partisan beliefs and no amount of fact or truth will shove us off those beliefs if we don't open ourselves to learning.

[GBArmy]

Well, history certainly

[GeekySquid]

3 minutes ago, GBArmy said:

Well, history certainly

not sure that consternation emoji isn't a bad thing

[GBArmy]

Best I could do with the options I had

[Diamondrichlb]

Aloha,

Yes, honorable discharge.

I was a member of the 225th Surveillance Aviation Company, flying OV-1 Mohawks using IR surveillance. The Company was operating out of Tuy Hoa Air Base in Vietnam. We were originally out of Phu Hiep Army Base, but took over the air base when the Air Force moved out.

The mission in question was a TDY assignment in 1971. I believe we took it over in June of '71. The mission was assigned to the 131st out of Da Nang before we took we got it. We operated out of the Udorn Royal Thai Air Base as an independent unit. We attended Air Force briefings, but our mission orders came out of Vien Tien Laos. We flew missions daily in the Plane of Jars looking for truck convoys coming down from North Vietnam. If found we called in the fast movers from Thailand. Moonbeam was the overhead Air Force C-130 controller for the aircraft in the area. Ocean Station also gave us input for any aircraft coming south from North Vietnam. The mission was flown at night.

My injuries occurred Dec 1, 1971. I was treated at the on base emergency room and released.

Any help you can offer will be appreciated. Thank you.

[Berta]

Thanks for that incredible amount of detail!

I found stuff on the 225th  but this is about the 131^st:

It would be great if that was YOU in the photo!

 

 

In part the article reads:

"Awards are hard to come by in the 131st."

 

"Stamp the word 'secret' on an award citation, and it gets lost for sure," a pilot explained.

I was trying to find if this unit you were in support of ever got the PUC---

“The unit has been in for a presidential unit citation since 1967. The pilots said the award is now close to being up for consideration.” Same article.

(This Stars and Stripes article was written By DAN EVANS | STARS AND STRIPES

Published: June 19, 1971)

https://www.stripes.com/news/mohawk-pilots-brave-sams-and-anonymity-1.27164

It will take me some time to search more on this- I will be at church soon, but will search more when I get home-

I have a different question- you were Boots on Ground Vietnam, do you have any of these AO presumptive disabilities:

https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/conditions/

 I hope not but you would be eligible for VA compensation if you do have any of them.

 

 

 

Edited September 22, 2019 by Berta