Vietnam Civil Actions Medal
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The Vietnam Civil Actions Medal is a decoration of South Vietnam which was first established in 1964. The decoration is a mid-level service award which was awarded to any member of the Vietnamese military who performed outstanding civic service to the state or who participated in civil service actions of significant benefit. The Vietnam Civil Actions Medal was awarded in two classes, with the first class intended for commissioned officers and the second for enlisted personnel. It was not possible to upgrade one class to another or to wear both classes simultaneously.
[edit] Overview
A unit award of the Vietnam Civil Actions Medal also existed, known as the Vietnam Civil Actions Unit Citation. The unit awards was also referred to as the Civil Actions Unit Award with Palm or as the Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation with Civil Actions Colors. The unit award of the Vietnam Civil Actions Medal was presented to all members of a military command who had participated in civic actions with such a degree that would normally warrant the presentation of the Vietnam Civil Actions Medal. The unit award appeared as the ribbon for the Vietnam Civil Actions Medal (First Class), enclosed in a gold frame with a centered bronze palm. Regulations did permit the simultaneous presentation and display of both the full sized medal and unit award, since the two awards were considered separate decorations. The Vietnam Civil Actions Medal was one of the more commonly bestowed Vietnam medals presented to the forces of foreign militaries.
In the United States armed forces, the Vietnam Civil Actions Unit Citation was most often awarded to units of the United States Marine Corps which had participated in local police actions to suppress civil unrest in certain areas of South Vietnam. Other commonly awarded Vietnam Medals, received by U.S. forces, included the Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Vietnam Gallantry Cross.
In the modern age, the Vietnam Civil Actions Medal is an obsolete decoration since the awarding nation, the Republic of South Vietnam, no longer exists. The decoration is only available through private dealers of military insignia.
[edit] References
- {{cite web |url=http://www.muxo.net/vietnam/medals/vcam.html |title=Vietnam Civil Actions Medal Unit Citation | work=Central American Mission | accessdate=2006-10-10}
There are at least two serious errors in fact in this article. The first is in the use the term Civil Action vice Civic Action, the proper name for this military award is the Civic Action Medal not the Civil Action Medal[1] even though the effort may fall under the auspicies of the Civil Affairs Officer of a unit. The second is in regards to the U.S. Marine forces in Vietnam putting down civil unrest. At no time during the Vietnam Conflict were U.S. Marines used to quell civil unrest, that was a South Vietnamese issue which the were very capable of handling. The very concept of military civic action requires military units to be involved with local communities and their leaders. U.S. Marine units in Vietnam often ran Medical Civic Action Patrols or MedCaps during which U.S. Navy Corpsmen assigned to the Marines, treated the local population for various medical problems, ranging from intestinal worns to gun shot wounds. Also Marines were involved in building or repairing schools, roads, sanitation facilties, and communications. The U.S. Marine Corps was the one military service who actually "got it" when it came to getting involved with the local inhabitants to assist them in bettering their lot in life, or protecting them from the Viet Cong who stole their rice and kidnapped their young men for military serivice. To imply that the Marines were awarded the Civic Action Medal or ribbon for putting down civil unrest conjures up images of a South American or a third world military doing the bidding of some "two bit" dictator.
