National Defence Ribbon

[gunnyhiles]

I saw a postwhere regarding stars on the NDR, and have found info indicating stars are authorized, but nothing indicating for what. My Vietnam Ribbon has 4 stars for 4 major campains. Anyone got the skinny on this.
Who traveled troop ships like the Monrovia, and sat on the slats in the heads trough?
:sick:

[davblay]

I saw a postwhere regarding stars on the NDR, and have found info indicating stars are authorized, but nothing indicating for what.
The National Defense Service Medal is a military decoration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awards_and_decorations_of_the_United_States_milita ry) of the United States military (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military) originally commissioned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower). Created in 1953, the National Defense Service Medal was intended to be a “blanket campaign medal” awarded to any member of the United States military who served honorably during a designated time period of which a “national emergency” had been declared.
In the fifty years since the creation of the National Defense Service Medal, it is only authorized for the following time periods.
June 27 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_27), 1950 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950) to July 27 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_27), 1954 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954) for service during the Korean War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War)
January 1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1), 1961 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961) to August 14 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_14), 1974 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974) for service during the Vietnam War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War)
August 2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_2), 1990 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990) to November 30 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_30), 1995 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995) for service during the Gulf War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War)
September 11 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11), 2001 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001) to a date to be announced for service during the War on Terrorism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Terrorism)The National Defense Service Medal is awarded to anyone who serves on active duty in the United States military during the above time periods. For service in the Gulf War and War on Terrorism, it is also authorized for members of the Reserves or National Guard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Guard) ordered to active duty or who are performing "reserve service in good standing" which normally translates as regular attendance at monthly drills and performance in yearly training. The National Defense Service Medal is further authorized to students at the service academies after they are sworn into service, but is not granted to discharged or retired veterans who did not serve in one of the above time periods. The decoration is not authorized for members of the inactive reserve component.
Since the National Defense Service Medal has no other award criteria, except that a recipient must simply join the military, it is generally considered a low ranking service medal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_medal) in the order of precedence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_precedence) for wear and display of U.S. military medals. There is also not a time limit imposed for the medals issuance, meaning that someone who joins the military for simply a few days, and then receives an entry level discharge, would technically be entitled to the National Defense Service Medal. Although, in practice, military clerks will not add the NDSM on a DD Form 214 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DD_Form_214) if the service member performed duty for less than 90 days or the completion of their initial entry training. This accounts for the medal being omitted from a large number of "Uncharacterized" and "Entry Level" Separation Documents of individuals
Multiple awards of the National Defense Service Medal are authorized for members of the military who served in more than one of the eligible time periods; such additional awards are denoted by service stars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_stars). A second award of the medal is not granted for reenlisting during the same time period or transferring between branches of service.

[jerryd6818]

Vietnam Service Medal Campaign Stars. One star for each named campaign during your tour(s).

NAMED CAMPAIGNS - VIETNAM
Advisory 15 March 1962 - 7 March 1965
Defense 8 March 1965 - 24 December 1965
Counteroffensive 25 December 1965 - 30 June 1966
Counteroffensive, Phase II 1 July 1966 - 31 May 1967
Counteroffensive, Phase III 1 June 1967 - 29 January 1968
Tet Counteroffensive 30 January 1968- 1 April 1968
Counteroffensive, Phase IV 2 April 1968 - 30 June 1968
Counteroffensive, Phase V 1 July 1968- 1 November 1968
Counteroffensive, Phase VI 2 November 1968 - 22 February 1969
Tet 69/Counteroffensive 23 February 1969 - 8 June 1969
Summer-Fall 1969 9 June 1969 - 31 October 1969
Winter-Spring 1970 1 November 1969 - 30 April 1970
Sanctuary Counteroffensive 1 May 1970 - 30 June 1970
Counteroffensive, Phase VII 1 July 1970 - 30 June 1971
Consolidation I 1 July 1971 - 30 November 1971
Consolidation II 1 December 1971 - 29 March 1972
Cease-Fire 30 March 1972 - 28 January 1973

The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.