What's the difference between these two RVN medals & which one is mine?

[UTUSN]

Vietnam Gallantry Cross Ribbon with Palm Device




Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm




Back in the day we weren't given "education" or presentation ceremony, were just told that everybody on our ship were entitled to this or that ribbon/medal, look at what your shipmates were wearing and buy that. My DD 214 says "Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation", which I think is the 2nd one (above). It also lists the green & white striped one as "Vietnam Campaign with Device (60-) which also might not be the correct name.


I feel a bit of chagrin that I'm quibbling over things from a country that doesn't even exist anymore...


On Edit: The other one is named (almost) the same as on the 214, why is it called a "ribbon":

Vietnam Campaign Ribbon

[Recursion]

1. Form SF-180 is the only way to be absolutely certain

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/get-service-records.html

Unofficially, the Wiki page might help:

Unit citations usually go to everyone in a unit that distinguished itself in some way. Individual citations go to someone mentioned in dispatches.

[UTUSN]

2. Thanks. Yip, all of my stuff are unit awards except for the Good Conduct.

I ain't no individual hero, haha.

[Recursion]

3. I had a meritorious mast at one point

But the GySGT who was filling it out forgot to change my name from the "form letter" version he found in the NCO manual, so in my service record is a tale of the outstanding good conduct of "Lcpl Smith". (That's not my name, and I was a PFC at that point.)

[UTUSN]

4. Check out my "shadow shirt"

Everybody's got a shadow box. The sporting goods store has these fishing shirts that have a military look and I got together the rockers and patches from each of my duty stations---the two ships and the shore duty and got them sewn on. Civilians often just don't "get" how important certain things are to vets. The seamstress from the cleaners slapped some of the patches just "off" from where I had pinned them for her and I ended up taking most of them off and hand sewing them on myself.

Now all of this is on the back and sleeves. The front only has the name tape and a tape "UT-USN". It is NOT a military uniform (that would be illegal), just my personal nostalgia item. The trouble is that it is nigh UNwearable. When I complained that when I wear my ballcap or VFW jacket I get bothered by (mostly wingnuts) who come up to "thank you for your service," a wiseacre said to me, "Well, if you wear THAT shirt, you are pretty much crying out for ATTENTION!1" Later, when I updated the pic because of rearranging the patches, he said, "It IS a little, uh, BUSY!1" Haha. But back a couple of years when I first started this thing going and asked in the Lounge whether it was unwearable anywhere, some kind soul said, "You earned it!1 Wear the damned thing any damn place you want!1"

[old mark]

5. You got the unit citation-the other is for individuals. I was in the

82nd Airborne and got to wear decorations from WWII even though I served in the late 1960's. The Unit Citations stay with the units and all members of it after they are awarded.
Congratulations - you have every right to wear it and be proud of having been in that unit.

mark

[UTUSN]

6. Thanks for the info and back at you. It just seems that the "frame" implies that it is

"something extra" - iow, the PLAIN one is for INDIVIDUAL merit and the FRAMED one is for UNIT---sort of counter intuitive, but oh well...

[old mark]

7. IIRC, it is in a box because it is only a ribbon - there is no associated

medal and the box is supposed to give it more permanence and substance. Military heraldry is pretty ecletic and I don't know much about it, but I wore a LOT of shit that was earned by guys who died long before I was born much less in the Army... several ribbons and two shoulder cords...for the division as a whole and my specific regiment.

mark
Former Sp4
1st/504 PIR
82nd Airborne Division

[pinboy3niner]

8. IIRC, the individual award went to anyone who was awarded...

...the Purple Heart or a valorous decoration. And it might have been limited to "ground forces" but I'm not sure about that.