The Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation ( vi, Huy chương Tổng thống) was a military unit award established by the
State of Vietnam
The State of Vietnam ( vi, Quốc gia Việt Nam; Chữ Nôm: 國家越南; french: État du Viêt-Nam) was a governmental entity in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as a member of the French Union and later as a country ...
(1949–1955) as the State of Vietnam Friendship Ribbon on August 15, 1950. The Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation is considered obsolete since the
Republic of Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
(South Vietnam) (1955–1975) no longer exists.
History
The State of Vietnam Friendship Ribbon (aka State of Vietnam Ribbon of Friendship, Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation, and Republic of Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation) with gold frame, was awarded to the members of the U.S.
Military Assistance Advisory Group
Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) is a designation for United States military advisors sent to other countries to assist in the training of conventional armed forces and facilitate military aid. Although numerous MAAGs operated around ...
who served in Indo-China during August and September 1954 and participated in humanitarian assistance to Vietnam. The unit award was approved for wear by the U.S.
Department of the Army
The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the U.S. The Department of the Army is the federal government agency within which the United States Army (U.S.) is org ...
, General Orders No. 16, on February 28, 1955, which required that those wearing it on their uniforms (worn to the left of the Philippine or Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation) remove it prior to departure from the area;
that requirement was rescinded by General Orders No. 5, February 11, 1958.
U.S. Navy personnel who are eligible for the Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation may wear the award. No Marine Corps personnel, however, are eligible for this award.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the Republic of Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation was also awarded throughout the war to certain U.S. military units deemed to have performed exceptional service to Vietnam. However, the RVN PUC is not mentioned in the 1967 RVN awards manual nor the Department of the Army Pamphlet DA 672-3 (Unit Citation Credit) as an authorized unit award.
Appearance and wear
The ribbon is wide and surrounded by a
gold frame
A gold frame is an attachment to a military decoration which is issued by the militaries of some countries. The gold frame is designed to enclose an award ribbon and is usually a means of distinguishing the ribbon's special quality or denoting some ...
.
No
ribbon devices are authorized for wear with this award.
Foreign military unit members who were authorized to wear this unit award either wore the award on the right side of the uniform (e.g. U.S. Army) with any other same size unit award emblems or wore the slightly smaller size version of the award on the left side of the uniform (e.g. U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force) with their other service ribbons.
U.S. recipients
State of Vietnam Friendship Ribbon:
*
Military Assistance Advisory Group, Indochina[
:''Citation: During the months of August and September 1954, the members of the Military Assistance Advisory Group assisted to freedom from the terrors of Communist rule in their own territory of North and Central Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children. Thanks to the efficient and humanitarian assistance of the members of Military Assistance Advisory Group these refugees have been given an opportunity to start their lives anew in the free territories of Viet-Nam. The free people of Viet-Nam express their heartfelt gratitude for this unselfish manifestation of friendship and support.'']
See also
* Military awards and decorations of South Vietnam
References
External links
{{commons category
Military Orders, Decorations, and Medals of the Republic of Vietnam
Military awards and decorations of Vietnam
Awards established in 1950