The Republic of Vietnam Wound Medal ( vi, Chiến-Thương Bội-Tinh) was a military decoration of South Vietnam first created in 1953. The medal was the South Vietnamese equivalent of the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is th ...

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

, and was awarded to any personnel of the South Vietnamese military who, while engaged in armed combat with enemies of 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 t ...

, were either wounded or killed in action. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, the Wound Medal was often issued to Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) personnel for combat wounds received fighting the forces of

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

or the

Vietcong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

. The medal was seldom bestowed upon members of allied militaries such as the

and then only if the allied soldier in question was attached and under the direct command of a South Vietnamese unit. For service members of the United States military, the Wound Medal is not authorized for wear on a military uniform. With the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, the Wound Medal became obsolete.

References

{{reflist Military awards and decorations of Vietnam Wound decorations

See also

References