Unit (ship) Combat Awards

[Chuck75]

Do the circumstances/awards below entitle me to be considered as a "Combat Veteran" under the VA regs? I have previously met the "VA "Feet on Ground" rule in the initial compensation claim, and received a 10% compensation award.

In the fall/winter of 1967, I served as part of the crew on an LST assigned as a support ship. We were a part of the "River Rats" or Mobile Riverene Force, TF117.

(Operated in the rivers and Delta of Vietnam) In 1968 I was transferred to another ship, an LSMR. This vessel provided "close in" fire support along the entire coast of Vietnam.

As a result, for the time that I was on the crew, the ships were awarded:

LST

CR 11-DEC-1967

NU 20-AUG-1967 16-JAN-1968

RG 24-AUG-1967 01-SEP-1967

13-NOV-1967 29-NOV-1967

26-DEC-1967 02-JAN-1968

VS 1 June 1967 - 29 January 1968

LSMR

NU 01-SEP-1968

VS 04-FEB-1968 21-MAR-1968 30-APR-1968

11-JUN-1968 18-JUL-1968

CR Combat Action Ribbon

NU Navy Unit Commendation

VS Vietnam Service Medal

RG Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation - Gallantry

Edited March 31, 2007 by Chuck75

[Berta]

Chuck you asked:

"The reason I asked was that my 214 shows only a VS with stars. (why?)"

I believe that your mean the VSM with bronze stars on a little bar with it?

This means the stars represent campaigns.

They could mean attached to a unit that was in combat or actually in the unit that incurred the combat.

I always think a vet should file a DD 149 if they question their awards.

My husband got the PUC Presidential Unit Citation- but after he was dead.I mean the ribbon came after he died. They did put it on his DD 215 with other awards he didnt know he had gotten.

Oddly enough what he thought the PUC was for-

was actually for something else when I found the actual citation on the internet.

Don- you are right- Mike is still kickin' and still helping vets

and still hunting and fishing!

"From what I've found out so far, the coreman on the first ship did not transfer ship's sick bay treatment records to the individual's records in a timely manner. The combination of several medical problems, all of which can in theory be service connected, forced me to retire early, at 61, rather than the standard SS retirement age of 67 for my age group."

If there is nothing about this in your SMrs- (I dont buy what VA says sometimes is in or not in SMRS- best to get them yourself)

than you could probably find a buddy statement to support that this injury took place.

It is amazing how many units from Nam have web sites.

And their are even NAvy ship roster lists for reunions and such.

[Philip Rogers]

I'm fairly sure the campaigns were just a certain period of time. The campaign may have run from 6/67 - 8/68 and was for all units serving in VN. So anyone in VN or the waters off shore, during that period, qualified and was awarded the VSM, for that campaign. Each star represents an additional award/campaign. As far as I know there is no 'little bar' with stars. Actual combat had nothing to do with the VSM awards or the campaigns.

pr

[john999]

Would a Pathfinder badge be a combat award or just proof you were qualified as a pathfinder?

[evandc]

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

[RockyA1911]

NUCs, PUC's, MUC's etc., are not individual combat awards, they are unit awards and do not qualify as an INDIVIDUAL DECORATION. If one or more of the below listed combat awards are NOT on your DD-214, they do not count. VSM and VCM do not count. From PTSD M21-1 IV

b. Evidence of Stressors in Service

(1) Conclusive Evidence. Any evidence available from the service department indicating that the veteran served in the area in which the stressful event is alleged to have occurred and any evidence supporting the description of the event are to be made part of the record. Corroborating evidence of a stressor is not restricted to service records, but may be obtained from other sources (see Doran v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 283 (1994)). If the claimed stressor is related to combat, in the absence of information to the contrary,

receipt of any of the following individual decorations will be considered evidence that the veteran engaged in combat:

_ Air Force Cross

_ Air Medal with "V" Device

_ Army Commendation Medal with "V" Device

_ Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device

_ Combat Action Ribbon

_ Combat Infantryman Badge

_ Combat Medical Badge

_ Combat Aircrew Insignia

_ Distinguished Flying Cross

_ Distinguished Service Cross

_ Joint Service Commendation Medal with "V" Device

_ Medal of Honor

_ Navy Commendation Medal with "V" Device

_ Navy Cross

_ Purple Heart

_ Silver Star

Other supportive evidence includes, but is not limited to, plane crash, ship sinking, explosion, rape or assault, duty on a burn ward or in graves registration unit. POW status which satisfies the requirements of 38 CFR 3.1(y) will also be considered conclusive evidence of an in-service stressor.

[Philip Rogers]

Would a Pathfinder badge be a combat award or just proof you were qualified as a pathfinder?

John, a Pathfinder badge is just proof of successful completion of the Pathfinder training, not combat.

pr