Sen. Ted Kennedy and Vietnam era military awards

[walnutred]

I am reading the book Enduring Vietnam by James Wright. I'm half way through and so far it seems to be a very balanced book. According to Wright one of the reasons fewer medals for valor were issued during the Vietnam War is that Sen Ted Kennedy was putting pressure on the Pentagon to either not issue or to downgrade medals. He states this is the opinion of some military Officers from that time period.

I'm not a Kennedy fan but have never heard this theory. Have any of you heard this?

[MelvinWalker]

I don't think that was necessarily true....Many, many valor awards were given during Vietnam...However, just think of all of the marines that died in the Pacific during WW2 that got nothing but a Purple Heart.

I had a good friend years ago, (Francis M. Sullivan), who was a B17 ball turret gunner. He was shot down over Vechta, Germany and taken prisoner by the Germans for 18 months. When released, he wasn't even handed a Purple Heart...He worked all of his life and still had shrapnel in his leg from flak.

Look at the almost unbelievable Colonel David Hackworth...He fought from WW2 all the way through Vietnam...He was given two Distinguished Service Crosses, TEN Silver Stars and scores of other citations, but didn't make General because he publicly complained about Vietnam not being fought correctly.

[THE PILGRIM]

Some folks think we received too many medals in SEA.
Never heard of the Ted Kennedy connection.

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Yes, there was the notorious case in 1970 when an Assistant Division Commander of the 1st Cav received the Silver Star for a fictitious event.

[LoboGunLeather]

This is the first I've heard about this possibility.

During my service in Vietnam the authorization for many medals was delegated down to various unit levels (company, battalion, brigade). Only the higher valor awards were restricted to higher command authority (Silver Star, DSC, etc). We seldom saw awards ceremonies, except the occasional change-of-command with officers pinning medals on each other's chests while photographers recorded the event. Nearly all of my decorations were mailed to my "home of record" after I left Vietnam, and that was usually the first time I heard about them.

Every decoration was accompanied by copies of the orders authorizing the award and a written citation prepared by very creative young HQ staff officers (probably majored in creative writing at college). I never remembered some of those events quite the way they were described.

While processing out of active duty it was found that several awards and decorations were not recorded in my personnel files. The orders for the awards had never caught up to the HQ clerks, or they never bothered to post everything to the records. Not uncommon at all.

There were also events called "impact awards", when commanders made spot presentations in the field. Usually followed up with orders, but not always.

While in a military hospital in Japan a group of dignitaries touring the wards watched as medals were presented to us in beds and wheelchairs. After all the bigshots and photographers left they collected all the medals in a box for use at the next press event.

Still just a little bit cynical here.

[Rudi]

Never heard this, but Ted showed everyone his lack of character.

[Old 44 Guy]

He was a sleeze ball and a murderer. I would not trust anything he said or did.

[UncleEd]

Medals are nice but as I heard some
WWII vets put it, "that and a dime will
buy you a cup of coffee."

[Sistema1927]

Ted Kennedy just celebrated his 5,392 day of sobriety today.

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

So many generals received the DSM that it became known as the "Generals
Good Conduct Medal." It was a source of considerable embarassment when Samuel Koster was stripped of his for his role in the My Lai Coverup.

[DWalt]

I have no knowledge whatsoever about military decorations and whether Teddy Kennedy did anything to affect awarding them. But everything anyone needs to know about him can be found in the 2017 movie "Chappaquidick". We all owe Mary Jo a debt of gratitude for keeping him out of the running to be President.

[WardenRoss]

I hate to say it but right out of high-school, my dad served on Guam, Philippines, Okinawa (and I believe Saipan). He had a head injury, caught a jungle fever that laid him up for 30 days in a pup tent.

He never complained. He never got a medal. His reward was getting home alive.

He never spoke of his experiences until I inquired about his WWII service on his death bed at 80 years of age.

I'm sure there were many others.

The greatest generation.



,

[Kevin G]

Googling LBJ and Silver Star will yield an interesting story.