FREDL wrote:

I HAVE HAD SEVERAL OPINIONS ON THIS VITNAMESE RIBBON,1.THAT ALL WHOreceived the VSO (macv were eligle for it and @.that only if it was issued or allowed.

Anyone know the stright skinny.?

Fmo
deputy30233@yahoo.com

Here is what I have on the subject.


The Vietnam Gallantry Cross is a military decoration of South Vietnam which was established in August 1950. Also known as the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, the Gallantry Cross is awarded to any military personnel who have accomplished deeds of valor or displayed heroic conduct while fighting an enemy force.

The degrees of the Gallantry Cross are as follows:

Gallantry Cross with Palm (Individual Award)
Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star (Regiment or Brigade citation)
Gallantry Cross with Silver Star (Division citation)
Gallantry Cross with Gold Star (Corps citation)


The Vietnam Gallantry Cross was also issued in three versions, the first of which was the standard Gallantry Cross which was issued to members of all military branches, as well as service members of foreign and allied militaries.

The other versions of the Gallantry Cross were the Air Gallantry Cross and Navy Gallantry Cross. These decorations were awarded under a different authority than the standard Gallantry Cross and were considered separate decorations.

The Vietnam Gallantry Cross also is issued as a unit award which is an entirely separate decoration from the full sized medal. Known as the "Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm," the unit citation award was created in 1968 and was issued as the Gallantry Cross ribbon, with a metal palm device, enclosed within a gold frame.

The Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm was issued to every Allied nation which provided military support to Vietnam between 1 March 1961 and the fall of Saigon in April 1975. The unit decoration thus became the most commonly awarded Vietnamese decoration to foreigners, second only to the Vietnam Campaign Medal.

The United States military began authorizing the Vietnam Gallantry Cross in March 1968 with retroactive presentation of the decoration to 1961. In 1974, Army General Order Number 8 authorized the Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation to every military unit of the United States Army which had served under the Military Assistance Command from 1961 to 1974. This effectively granted the unit version of the award to any member of the U.S. Army who had served for any period of time in the Republic of Vietnam. Members of other services were not affected by the Army General Order and still required individual or unit orders for the Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation to be awarded.

The National Personnel Records Center is the agency which responds to retroactive award requests, from U.S. Army veterans, updating military records to show the Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation per Army General Order 8. The decoration itself, both full medal and unit citation, are considered foreign military decorations and are not provided to Vietnam veterans by any of the United States military services.

Republic of Viet Nam Gallantry Cross:  Under No  3.  Criteria: a. US Military units were individually cited for award of the Republic of Viet Nam (RVN) Gallantry cross; however, the Vietnanmese Government issued the award to all units subordinate to Military Assistance Command (MACV) during the period 8Feb62 and 28Mar73 and to the US Army Vietnam and its subordinate units for the period 20Jul65 to 28Mar73.  Thhis permits all personnel who served in Viet Nam to wear the RVN Gallantry Cross unit citation.  So it looks like to me all you get to wear is the ribbon in the gold frame with the Palm.  So if you wear the medal you might as well throw in the Medal of Honor also because you not authorized to wear either one.  Source.  www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/VietNam.  If you do look it up under 5. Background: b. you get to wear the emblem  (with palm) only regardless of the number of times the unit was awarded the Cross.  MicheleAchille          SP5 E5, RA13876401, RVN Dec67 thru Oct68.  "TET" quailified.