Dads medals

Chief Flight Attendant - Johno James Doherty

AUSTRALIAN ACTIVE SERVICE MEDAL 1945-1975

The Australian Active Service Medal with clasps denoting areas of service is awarded to members of the Australian Defence Force and certain Australian civilians for service in specified areas overseas. The following is a summary of all four approved clasps with the respective qualifying areas and periods. VIETNAM - Awarded to members of the Australian Defence Force, civilian members of the Department of Defence, civilian contractors of the Department of Defence, members of the Australian Merchant Navy; members of an Australian Surgical and Medical Team; Australian War Correspondents; members of the Salvations Army, Australian Red Cross, Australian Young Men's Christian Association and Australian Campaigners for Christ, who qualified for either the General Service Medal 1962 with clasp Vietnam, the Vietnam Medal or the Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal for service in South Vietnam between 24 December 1962 and 27 January 1973. The Australian Active Service Medal 1945-1975 with clasp Vietnam WILL NOT BE AWARDED to Embassy Staff and Diplomatic Couriers, QANTAS Aircrew or Entertainers who have been awarded the Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal, as they were not employed for operational reasons. Determination by the Minister for Defence Industry, Science and Personnel dated 10 March 1998.

DESIGN - Description of Ribbon A narrow central red stripe flanked by two narrow yellow stripes, which are in turn flanked by two light blue bands. On the outer edges are stripes of purple with dark green stripes on their inner edges. ORDER OF PRECEDENCE - The Australian Active Service Medal 1945-1975, with clasps in order of date of qualifying service, is worn immediately after any Second World War Awards, and before any other Campaign Awards.

Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal (VLSM)

Eligibility
The Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal was established on 24 February 1993, in order to extend recognition to persons who rendered service in support of the Australian Armed Forces in operations in Vietnam between 29 May 1964 to 27 January 1973, but who did not qualify for the Vietnam Medal. It is also ranked with war medals. The Committee of Inquiry into Defence and Defence-related Awards (CIDA) extended eligibility of the medal to civilian surgical and medical teams and other civilian groups who served in Vietnam under Government jurisdiction. Persons who have been awarded or are eligible to be awarded the Vietnam Medal are not eligible for the award of the Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal. The medal may be awarded posthumously. The medal is awarded for one day or more of service in the declared area of operations of Vietnam during the relevant period to persons who were:

a member of the crew of a ship or aircraft operating in support of the Australian Armed Forces; attached to a unit or organisation operating in support of the Australian Armed Forces; or attached to, or serving with, a unit of the Australian Armed Forces or allied forces as an observer.

Description
The Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal is a nickel-plated circular nickel-silver medal of the same design as the Vietnam Medal. The suspender is of a different, plainer design than that of the Vietnam Medal. The obverse shows the crowned head of Queen Elizabeth II, with titles, while the reverse has a the inscription VIETNAM above a symbolic representation of the ideological war in Vietnam. A male figure stands between two spherical shapes. Adjacent to the right heel of the man on the reverse of the Medal is a cartouche of a ram's head, the mint mark of the Royal Australian Mint. The ribbon has a vertical central section of bright yellow which has centrally superimposed on it three thin stripes of red, (representing the South Vietnamese flag) flanked on the left by a dark blue stripe representing the Navy and on the right, a brown stripe representing the colour of inland and coastal waterways of Vietnam. These two stripes are flanked in turn on the left by a red stripe for the Army, and a light blue stripe for the Air Force.

References
Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Defence and Defence Related Awards A Matter of Honour - The Report of the Review of Australian Honours and Awards Additional research by Barry Saxby OAM and Clive Mitchell-Taylor JP Image adapted from that provided by Director of Honours and Awards, Department of Defence, April 1999

Vietnamese Campaign Medal

Eligibility
This award has was issued by the South Vietnamese Government for six months service in South Vietnam. Approximately 50,000 were issued to Australian and New Zealand service personnel.

Description
The Vietnamese Campaign Medal is a six-pointed star in white enamel, superimposed over a radiating bright metal background. A circular inset to the white star consists of a map of Vietnam in bright metal, with a flame in red enamel arising from it. The background to the inset is dark green enamel. The ribbon of the medal has three white stripes. On either side of the central white stripe are broader stripes of dark green, while the two outer white stripes are flanked at the edges by narrow strips of green. The ribbon is mounted so that it tapers to the width of the central white stripe. The medal is issued with a bar which is impressed '1960-'.

References
A Matter of Honour - The Report of the Review of Australian Honours and Awards Additional research by Barry Saxby and Clive Mitchell-Taylor Image adapted from that kindly provided by Director of Honours and Awards, Department of Defence, April 1999

The General Service Medal 1962 with Clasp 'South Vietnam'

Eligibility
The General Service Medal 1962 was awarded for: Army - Service of 30 days or more, not necessarily continuous, in South Vietnam between 24 December 1962 and 28 May 1964 inclusive, while on the posted or attached strength of any unit or formation of Her Majesty's Forces in these territories. Air Force - Service of 30 days or more, not necessarily continuous, in South Vietnam between 24 December 1962 and 28 May 1964 inclusive, while on the posted or attached strength of any unit or formation of Her Majesty's Forces in these territories, or one sortie or more into South Vietnam by air crew personnel in direct support of operations. Civilians - Members of the following accredited philanthropic organisations serving with the Australian Army: Australian Red Cross; Salvation Army; Young Men's Christian Association; and Campaigners for Christ.

Description
The obverse shows the crowned head of Queen Elizabeth II, with titles, while the rather plain reverse has a crown and FOR/CAMPAIGN/SERVICE, in an oak wreath. The ribbon is violet with narrow green edges. The medal is not issued without a bar. A bar inscribed South Vietnam was issued with the medal. Only 68 medals were issued, all to the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV).

References
Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Defence and Defence Related Awards Collecting Medals and Decorations - Alec A Purves Other research by Barry Saxby OAM and Clive Mitchell-Taylor JP Image adapted from that kindly provided by Director of Honours and Awards, Department of Defence, April 1999

About the GSM 1962

Until 1962 separate GSMs had been issued to Naval personnel (the Naval GSM 1915) and Army and RAF personnel (the GSM 1918). The GSM 1962 was instituted in 1962 to replace these medals and was awarded to personnel of all services for campaigns and operations that fell short of full scale war. Since its inception, it has been awarded for 13 such campaigns: Borneo, Radfan, South Arabia, Malay Peninsula, South Vietnam, Northern Ireland, Dhofar, Lebanon, Mine Clearance Gulf of Suez, Gulf, Kuwait, N. Iraq and S. Turkey and Air Operations Iraq. Award of any new clasps to the GSM was discontinued on 31 December 1999 on the introduction of the new OSM on 1 January 2000. ..........................................................................................................................................

FALSE ,
"the Battle of Launceston Medal."
The offending medal was 'invented' for gullible Veterans who attended a Vietnam Veterans Parade in Launceston, Tasmania, and is affectionately known as "the Battle of Launceston Medal." It is an abomination, and serves only to boost egos by fooling the general public into thinking a person has more medals than they have earned. Here is the offending "Tin" trinket.

South Australia has always been the Tin capital of Australia, because a Shonky Medals Dealer named Colonel Barry Presgrave, who at one time held the position of President of the South Australia National Servicemens association, convinced his members to purchase Tin medals from him.
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SKIPPY

SQUADRO N

Skippy Squadron was formed in 2002 by the volunteer Qantas aircrew and ground staff who operated and supported military charter flights in the prescribed area of operations during the Vietnam war, maintaining the commitment established by their predecessors during the Second World War. Members are eligible for the award of the Australian Active Service Medal 19451975 with Clasp Vietnam, and the Vietnam Logistics & Support Medal .

Skippy Squadron organiser, Alan Kitchen, has made an extensive study of Qantas charter flights

to Vietnam from June 1965 to February 1972 and has established that at least 300 flights in/out of Saigon were chartered to the RAAF to carry troops to Vietnam. According to National Australian Archives Inward Customs Register in June 1965, B707-138B VH-EBI operated four flights from Saigon as shown in the following table.

Date 01JUN65 05JUN65 07JUN65 09JUN65

Aircraft VH-EBI VH-EBI VH-EBI VH-EBI

Captain Morris Morris Radford Harden

Flight # QF120 QF120 QF120 QF120

Crew 14 13 11

Pax 111 -

Route Richmond/MNL/SGN/SYD Richmond/MNL/SGN/SYD Richmond/MNL/SGN/SYD TSV/MNL/SGN/SYD

Source Richmond MNL SGN SYD TSV

NAA SP9341/1 & 2 Inward Customs Register. K.S.A. RAAF Base Richmond, NSW Manila Saigon Sydney (KSA Kingsford Smith Airport) Townsville

The captains shown in the table operated MNL/SGN/SYD. There is no record of captains who operated the Richmond/MNL and TSV/MNL sectors. VH-EBI was the first of the 707s to operate into Tan Son Nhut Airport, Saigon with Australian troops on board on 31 May 1965 arriving back in Sydney the next day as QF120. In mid 1966, the flight numbers for Vietnam charters changed to QF 177/QF178. The Saigon flights were routed via Manila as the Indonesian Government would not permit them to overfly Indonesia with troops on board, especially as they had their rifles stowed in a netted bin at the rear of the cabin.

Alan Kitchen has been unable to locate any records of Saigon flights after 1966 although he estimates that access to tech crew log books has provided approximately 20% of the missing data. Accordingly, Alan will be very pleased to hear from any Qantas tech crew who operated flights to/from Saigon.

A model of VH-EBI was presented to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on 30 January 2007. The model is to be displayed in a proposed post WWII Gallery some time later in 2007.