ehrentitle

I looked for information on the Merchant Marine Vietnam Service Medal and got nowhere until I realized that it was issued as a ribbon bar at the time, apparently the medal came out later. The Merchant Marine Vietnam Service Ribbon Bar was awarded to Merchant Marine personnel which served on US ships in and adjacent to Vietnam. It was designed by R.A. Chandler or the Maritime Administration.

As a side note the Merchant Marine were authorized a number of WWII ribbon bars which roughly paralled the US WWII campaign ribbons. They were:

Merchant Marine Defense Ribbon Bar

Merchant Marine Pacific War Zone Ribbon Bar

Merchant Marine Atlantic War Zone Ribbon Bar

Merchant Marine Mediterranean, Middle East War Zone Ribbon Bar

Other Merchant Marine ribbon bars were:

Merchant Marine Gallant Ship Citation (Ships cited for gallantry by the Administrator of the War Shipping Administration)

Merchant Marine Combat Ribbon Bar (Service on ship that was attacked or damaged)

Merchant Marine Korean Service Ribbon Bar

The Merchant Marine also at least two decorations parallel to US military decorations. They are:

Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal

Merchant Marine Meritorios Service Medal

They also have the Merchant Marine Mariners Medal and of course the Merchant Marine WW II Victory Medal shown in this thread.

Kevin

Greetings from Virginia, I'm new to the club but a long time collector of US medals. patches and insignia.

The Vietnam Civilian Service Medal was awarded for 12 months of civilian service in Vietnam. Civilians who were injured or forced to leave Vietnam before one year of service were also eligible. It was established on 15 Jan 1968 and was retroactive to 1 January 1962.

Kevin