Doc

Actually, that was my first thought, but then I remembered that some Dutch and Belgian units were actually assigned to US units (e.g. the Belgians to the 3rd ID). If he was in the Dutch Army then, he might have legitimately gotten it for the Korean War. Doc

Interesting that his decoration bars in the two pictures do not match. Nor do all the skills badges. I don't think the US has a gold colored Master Parachutist Badge, though I guess some other country could. Google searches on him don't give very much hard information, but it is obvious that if he has done all he claims, then he did not serve in the Special Forces for very long. There just aren't enough years there. Let's see, he fought the Japanese in WW2 (since he was apparently born in 1928, he would have been pretty young). Then he fought in Korea as part of the Dutch Army assigned to the US Army. Sometime he supposedly served in the Special Forces (one thing I found on the web said he did that in 1948, which would have been hard, since the US Special Forces were formed in the early 1960s, IIRC), and he wears a bunch of VN ribbons. He supposedly also worked for the CIA and the German Border Police. And on top of that, he has supposedly studied and now teaches many different styles of martial arts. I guess it is possible, but I'm real suspicious. I'd like to see a real biography (with dates) and a good closeup of some of those pictures of ribbons. The ribbons certainly seem out of order, and there may be some errors in them which I won't comment on without a better picture. He doesn't look 81 to me. Doc

I would assume it means "Service Battalion". No idea about the meaning of the 1, or why there would be two battalions listed. Maybe he switched units. Doc

You're welcome. Good luck. Doc

I've found him on quite a few websites. Apparently shot down in a Huey on 9 Oct 69. http://www.vvmf.org/index.cfm?SectionID=110&Wall_Id_No=5534 http://www.armyaircrews.com/huey_nam_69.html http://www.scguard.com/museum/docs/vietnam/1969/October1969.pdf This is definitely not your guy. And no other John P Brennan's listed as kin for him, either. There was a Major John P Brennan who was assistant military aide to President Nixon in 1969. Highly dubious that this is our man, since it is a relatively common name, but you never know. You might try to contact the Nixon Library and see if they have anything on him. Major in 69 would fit with Junior officer service in VN in the early 60s. Doc

Highly unlikely. Too late to be a second louie, unless he was enlisted in Nam. And the name change is suspicious. I don't think this is the one. If he is not otherwise in the MSC stud book, then it is unlikely that he was MSC, and this hypothesis/guess would seem to be wrong. Be aware, there was a John P. Brennan who was an Army aviator, and who died as a Captain in Vietnam--- obviously he did not make it to Colonel, but lots of name searches will pull him up. Doc

I have already asked the Public Affairs Office at Ft. Rucker on your behalf, and am waiting for a response from them. Will let you know what I find out, if anything. I'm trying to have them review any lists of Army Pilots trained at Ft. Rucker which they have available, to see if we can find out anything about him. Contacting the Museum might be useful-- they have been very helpful to me in the past, but I have not asked them about him as of yet-- go ahead and give it a try. Edit: messages crossed in the mail. Too bad the museum couldn't help. But, I seriously doubt he had three tours in VN-- That is probably simply 3 campaigns during a single one year tour. As to National Security Council, it is possible, but I doubt it. That assignment would probably NOT have been put on his leather name tag. Doc

Yep, I learn a lot every day. Have a good one. Doc

Gustav, Thanks for the information on when the Officer corps went to SSAN. I know that the Army started the conversion for enlisted personnel in about 1967, and during 67 and 68 dog tags had both the SSAN and the Army Serial Number on them. By the time I was commissioned in 71, we were all on SSAN. I don't think your comment about the OF serial number is accurate-- The OF prefixes don't seem to have come into use until after the years in which I think these dogtags were produced. OF wasn't used until about 1964, by which time the Tetanus year on the tag was gone. Therefore, I would not have expected him to have an OF number. Doc

Well, if they had a list of his awards, that should give you more information-- what did they offer? I would assume that means they have confirmed that he existed, and they probably should have had his corps listed. If the AMEDD people had it, I bet he was Medical Service Corps. You won't find out much from the National Archives. Military records are very hard to get hold of, and currently the Army will NOT release any personal information. You are going to have to go other routes. Try the Medical Service Corps Association (Silver Caduceus Society) and see if they will give you any information. Sorry to not be able to help more-- this is a rough thing to do. Web searches will be your best bet, I suspect. Doc

You are welcome, and good luck. Doc

OK, after checking a few things, I think that is a Dog Tag from early in his career. The first line of numbers was his Officer Serial Number, which was replaced by the Social Security number in 1968. Officer Serial numbers were prefixed with OF (as versus O) beginning in 1964. The T-52-53 is the years he received his tetanus toxoid shots. This was no longer supposed to be on the dog tags after 1959. The "Notch" in the tag was dropped in 1967. B without a + or - was the appropriate blood type marking during the late 50s to early 60s. So, based on this, and realising that changes didn't always happen per the regulations, and old styles etc often went on for years, I would guess that this is a dog tag from 1959 to the early 1960s, probably prior to 1964. Doc

I would bet that the 04005650 was his serial number. By the time I was in, this format was no longer used, but it is typical of the WW2 and Korean War serial numbers. I'm not sure when the Army went over to using the Social Security Number, but it was before 1971, so if this is his serial number, it would be from before that date, so he could have used this tag during early VN era. I have no idea about the T-52-53. B might be blood type, but I would have expected B+ or B- for blood type. Again, it may differ depending on years. DFC criteria-- from the relevant Army Regulation: 3–12. Distinguished Flying Cross a. The Distinguished Flying Cross, section 3749, title 10, United States Code (10 USC 3749), was established by Act of Congress 2 July 1926. b. The Distinguished Flying Cross is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the Army of the United States, distinguished himself or herself by heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight. The performance of the act of heroism must be evidenced by voluntary action above and beyond the call of duty. The extraordinary achievement must have resulted in an accomplishment so exceptional and outstanding as to clearly set the individual apart from his or her comrades or from other persons in similar circumstances. Awards will be made only to recognize single acts of heroism or extraordinary achievement and will not be made in recognition of sustained operational activities against an armed enemy. As far as when he earned this stuff, It's hard to tell. Dan's analysis is pretty good, but I bet he had only a single VN tour. And that may not have been as an operational pilot-- he may have been in his other role (MSC?). I don't know any VN pilots who didn't get a bunch of air medals. Doc

That is an ARMY Senior Aviator Badge. Air Force Pilot Wings are very different. Also, Unlikely but possible for him to be AF but have Army Commendation medals in multiple awards (we saw that a lot in the immediate post WW2 era, but rare today-- especially since he made it to Colonel. Generally, an Army guy transferring to the AF for the rest of his career wouldn't make it to that rank.... obviously, there can be exceptions, but generally that is true.) Doc

Nice Group. First, though, he is an ARMY aviator, not Air Force. I suspect the "NSC" should be "MSC"-- that would be Medical Service Corps, which would certainly be possible, since they fly most of our helicopter ambulances. For more information on him, Try contacting the Army Medical Regiment at the Army Medical Department Center and School, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. They may be able to give you more information on him. Their URL is: http://ameddregiment.amedd.army.mil/ Doc

Start with the National Archives contacts: http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/get-service-records.html If they can't help you, they should be able to refer you to someone who can. Good luck. Doc

Search the web for a Department of the Army pamphlet 672-6. Title "Armed Forces Decorations and Awards". It's old (1992), but does have photos of all the Services' civilian awards starting on page 30. I found it on the web in the past. Doc

Probably because it is a made up bar.

Usually, stars on Navy ribbons denote additional awards. #3 is NOTArmy GCM.

The LOM seems to have a hole for an additional award (oak leaf cluster)-- generally, that would be an officer, though I have seen a VERY few NCOs with two LOMs. The Good Conduct Medal is given only to Enlisted personnel, so I would bet an enlisted man who later became an officer (probably through Officers candidate school prior to completing a second tour of enlisted service, since no subsequent awards of the GCM). If he stayed enlisted, and got these awards, he should have had many awards of the GCM. Service stars are worn on campaign and service medals to denote participation in a named campaign [not a battle] (for example, Southwest Asia Service Medal) and on the service ribbons to denote an additional award (for example the National Defense Service Medal). The service star is a bronze or silver five-pointed star 3/16-inch in diameter. A silver star is worn instead of five bronze service stars. The bronze service star is also affixed to the Parachutist Badge to denote participation in a combat parachutist jump, retroactive to 7 December 1941 and the Military Free-Fall Parachutist Badge to denote participation in a combat military free-fall jump, retroactive to 1 October 1994. See paragraph 8–10 for criteria for award of the Combat Parachutist Badge and paragraph 8–15 for the Military Free Fall Parachutist Badge, combat jump. See AR 670–1 for proper wear of the service stars. b. Service stars are authorized for wear on the following campaign and service medals and or ribbons: (1) World War I Victory Medal. (2) American Defense Service Medal. (3) American Campaign Medal. (4) Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. (5) European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. (6) Korean Service Medal. (7) Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. (8) Vietnam Service Medal. (9) National Defense Service Medal. (10) Humanitarian Service Medal. (11) Prisoner of War Medal. (12) Southwest Asia Service Medal. (13) Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. Note that the above regulation means that your NDSM with oak leaf cluster is not correct. Oak leaf cluster is not worn on the NDSM.

Bar 2-- #7 is the Air Force Longevity Ribbon-- given for 4 years service. Oak leaf means second award. #8 is Air Force Expert Marksman ribbon. #4-- given for three years service. The metal bar (silver with 5 loops) would designate additional awards (total of 10), for 30 years. It looks silver to me. If it is bronze with 5 loops, that would be 5 awards, or 15 years.

How do the 1920s dates on the certificate fit into this story? Are we talking about the same person? The certificate seems to say that the one asked about didn't get his JAP wings until 1924...... Doc

I don't have time to look up the regulations right now, but to steal from Wikipedia (yeah, I know)..... This decoration (Iraq Campaign Medal) replaces the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for service in Iraq and personnel who previously received the GWOTEM for Iraq service may elect to exchange the medal for the new Iraq Campaign Medal. Both medals may not be received for the same period of service in Iraq and any current Iraq service will be recognized only with the Iraq Campaign Medal. Doc

The regs are clear-- medics only. No, EFMB and CMB are two totally separate things-- no relationship, and you do not have to have EFMB to get the CMB. Yes, SWA includes Desert Storm. I'm not sure if the Balkans would rate a CMB or not-- would have to really review the regulations, but I suspect not, as technically those are peacekeeping missions, and we are not "directly engaged in ground conflict with an armed enemy". I could be wrong on this, but don't have time to really look at the regs right now. For details, look at the Regulations I have cited-- they are available on the web. Doc

That pin in the photo is a third award-- I don't know how he could have gotten it according to the regs. Eligibility is by grouped time periods, not events (see my previous posts). See AR 670-1. The cloth badge is the Expert Field Medical Badge. Doc