Thumper
10-30-2021, 01:52 PM
Sorry if this turns into a Thump post, but I'll try to keep it short. I'm considering having some of my military memorabilia put into a nice (professionally done) shadowbox type thing as a Christmas gift to my son. He has a sentimental side that I (unfortunately) don't really share. It may sound cold, but although my dad and I were super close, his old monkey wrench just doesn't mean a lot to me, although the memories (in my head) are priceless and all that I need. BUT .. my son, on the other hand, has little keepsakes that he treasures. I wish I shared his passion, but I just don't. My personal memories are all I need to be happy. Anyway, back to the shadowbox.
Back in beautiful SE Asia, there were some places I went and things that I did that were not documented. That's what made it very difficult to prove Agent Orange exposure with the V.A. That was finally verified somehow and I'm now on the AO Registry. At one point, I happened to be working the Cambodian Mission when I ended up saving a bunch of world mucky-muck dignitary asses. It was a MAJOR deal, but was highly classified and stayed pretty much hush-hush. One of those asses belonged to the US Ambassador to Cambodia and I later received a Letter of Appreciation from my Mil. Intel. Operations Officer regarding a Letter of Commendation from the Ambassador, which in turn, led to our whole unit receiving a Meritorious Unit Commendation.
12892
Now, here's where things got sticky. I was also issued a Cambodian Campaign Medal (not positive of the designation). The normal procedure was for the Base Commander with his mucky-muck underlings (Company Commander, Top Sargent for example) to have a personal one-on-one congratulatory meeting with me in his office and present the "I've been there" medal, which they did. So I was given the ribbon at that meeting, but the next step was a formal presentation with the whole company in attendance when the actual medal was to be presented. BUT, once I was given the ribbon, I never heard another word about the formal medal presentation ceremony. I didn't really care about any of that, but I did want the medal itself. I eventually went to the Commander's office and inquired about the medal and was told the ceremony had been cancelled and "there is no medal". I wasn't sure what that meant because the medal and the ribbon come in a set and I'd already been given the ribbon. That's when I was told an "issue" had arisen because "we were not (legally) IN Cambodia" (wink, wink) ... and that was the end of the conversation.
Ok, skip to my exit from the military and I was issued my DD214. In the awards section, there is no mention of the medal, so it appears all knowledge of the medal fell into a black hole and does not exist. Now to my question, I was planning on having the original letter (copy above) incorporated into the shadowbox. I have the Meritorious Unit Citation (medal) that came along with it, but ... of course ... no Cambodian Campaign Medal, yet I DO still have the ribbon that was awarded to me and was a part of that medal. The question is, should I include the ribbon with no medal? Or simply write the whole thing off and trash it? It was part of my military history, but without documentation to back it up, is it really non-existent? Here's the awards section from my DD214 ... the Commendation is there, but no mention of the medal, of course. I guess the censors did their job.
12893
Back in beautiful SE Asia, there were some places I went and things that I did that were not documented. That's what made it very difficult to prove Agent Orange exposure with the V.A. That was finally verified somehow and I'm now on the AO Registry. At one point, I happened to be working the Cambodian Mission when I ended up saving a bunch of world mucky-muck dignitary asses. It was a MAJOR deal, but was highly classified and stayed pretty much hush-hush. One of those asses belonged to the US Ambassador to Cambodia and I later received a Letter of Appreciation from my Mil. Intel. Operations Officer regarding a Letter of Commendation from the Ambassador, which in turn, led to our whole unit receiving a Meritorious Unit Commendation.
12892
Now, here's where things got sticky. I was also issued a Cambodian Campaign Medal (not positive of the designation). The normal procedure was for the Base Commander with his mucky-muck underlings (Company Commander, Top Sargent for example) to have a personal one-on-one congratulatory meeting with me in his office and present the "I've been there" medal, which they did. So I was given the ribbon at that meeting, but the next step was a formal presentation with the whole company in attendance when the actual medal was to be presented. BUT, once I was given the ribbon, I never heard another word about the formal medal presentation ceremony. I didn't really care about any of that, but I did want the medal itself. I eventually went to the Commander's office and inquired about the medal and was told the ceremony had been cancelled and "there is no medal". I wasn't sure what that meant because the medal and the ribbon come in a set and I'd already been given the ribbon. That's when I was told an "issue" had arisen because "we were not (legally) IN Cambodia" (wink, wink) ... and that was the end of the conversation.
Ok, skip to my exit from the military and I was issued my DD214. In the awards section, there is no mention of the medal, so it appears all knowledge of the medal fell into a black hole and does not exist. Now to my question, I was planning on having the original letter (copy above) incorporated into the shadowbox. I have the Meritorious Unit Citation (medal) that came along with it, but ... of course ... no Cambodian Campaign Medal, yet I DO still have the ribbon that was awarded to me and was a part of that medal. The question is, should I include the ribbon with no medal? Or simply write the whole thing off and trash it? It was part of my military history, but without documentation to back it up, is it really non-existent? Here's the awards section from my DD214 ... the Commendation is there, but no mention of the medal, of course. I guess the censors did their job.
12893