R.O.K. Medal for Participation in Vietnam War

[Obergefreiter]

What can anyone tell me about the Korean Participation medal for the VN War? I have found next to no information on them; what I have found was on GMIC. Are they supposed to be rare? Are they expensive? There were thousands of ROK's in Vietnam. Yet I have never seen one for sale, either on a forum or on evilbay. What's the story on these anyway?

[Hugh]

What can anyone tell me about the Korean Participation medal for the VN War? I have found next to no information on them; what I have found was on GMIC. Are they supposed to be rare? Are they expensive? There were thousands of ROK's in Vietnam. Yet I have never seen one for sale, either on a forum or on evilbay. What's the story on these anyway?

Here's a picture. I'll take a picture of the reverse when I re-do the frame. Korean medals are usually hard to get in general. The government is very strict about allowing them to be sold to anyone. You must produce a certificate of eligibility. You'll occasionally see Korean ODM in auctions, but I think most of these were awarded to service members from other countries. I got this one at the factory in Seoul which makes replacements. It was very reasonable (except for the airline ticket).

Hugh

[joe campbell]

i've often heard that the ROK troopers were REALLY hardcore sumbitches.....

maybe their tradition included keeping their awards in the family.

joe

[army historian]

Hello, Here is a illustration from a book "The Decorations and Medals of the Republic of Vietnam and Her Allies, 1950-1975" . On page 76 - The book states 50,000 ROK troops in "Country" at their peak pre-1970. I saw some of these guys they were brutal to each other so I can imagine what they were like to the Vietnamese. The book has a rarity scale 1 to 10 with 1 being the most common - the ROK medal is a R-4. All US medals are R-1, and the British General Service Medal (1962) with "South Vietnam" bar is R-10. I hopes that helps. Cheers Captain Albert

[Paul R]

What is this medal's US equivelant?

[Obergefreiter]

What is this medal's US equivelant?

[Obergefreiter]

I saw some of these guys they were brutal to each other so I can imagine what they were like to the Vietnamese.

It's my understanding that they learned everything they knew about winning the hearts and minds of people from the Imperial Japanese Army.

Edited March 10, 2011 by Obergefreiter

[Obergefreiter]

Welll, thanks Gents. At least I have a little information to go on.

[Hugh]

i've often heard that the ROK troopers were REALLY hardcore sumbitches.....

maybe their tradition included keeping their awards in the family.

joe

They were indeed a tough group. They had the White Horse and the Tiger Divisions. I did a little spotting for the Tiger Div. arty, and later wound up living with ROKs in Saigon. Major Kim was the Taekwondo instructor for the Vietnamese President's bodyguard, a battalion of ROKs. We seldom looked over our shoulders when we went out in town. He introduced me to the delights of the ROK officer's club, known as the Steam and Cream, where I learned to eat noodle soup with steel chopsticks. Let me assure, that's not so easy. The major rotated home and 1LT Kim moved in. He was junior to me, and always sat up in bed and saluted when I came into the room. He asked me to help him learn English, but it was too frustrating for both of us.

Hugh

Edited March 10, 2011 by Hugh

[Oiva]

Members and Guests, I always felt save when I was in a area with ROC troops. Iremember when we had engine trouble a night and we were going to spend the night flanking the 3/4 ton with two M-60S, one M-79, three M-14s, and my 45. At about 0200 hrs. a Korean patrol showed up and we were towed into their base camp. I saluted the ROC Captain,who smiled and returned the salute. We spent the night and made contact with with my unit at Phan Rang and were back on the road the next day. Also it is interesting that the USA did not equipt the with newer weapons. The ROCs were using M-1 carbines and the 1919 Browning MGS. Regards,Oiva