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  • i am prolly the last that needs to speak in this area, as i was a med board from bootcamp. i didnt get any fancy awards cerimony, or even anything other then what my petty officer did as a sign of respect.
    my awards cerimony was dont in a barrack bath room, i was on cruches, could barely stand, and i just wanted it over with. i figoured it was a new form of boot torture lol. as polite and with as much dignity he presented me with my medals and my ribon for joining in a time of combat/war, i didnt even know they exhisted.
    for those of you that have many, i am sure that it means nothing to you, to me it ment the world, and that he would take the time, even in a bathroom to present this to me, it really ment the world to me.
    i know he went outside of his bounds to present them to me, thus why the bathroom, but none the less, the moment and honor was not lost.
    i where them only on certian occasions now, and i where them with pride, those with more porlly dont think much about them, or what it took to get them, but i do remember my 1 and only, and i envy you all that carry more then me.
    so again salute to you all, just remember the honor behind all medals and ribbons, as i do.
  • Well as far as I know there always was an Overeas Service Ribbon. For those of us on ships we got the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. Cold War, what do those of us who served but got Combat Action Ribbons and other Ribbons/Medals to denote service under hostile fire get ? Do you qualify it as people who served between the Vietnam National Defense Ribbon and the next one that was issued ? Would you start at the building of the Berlin wall to the destruction of it ? Just what dates would you call the Cold War ? Yea defining the ending might be easier than defining the beginning..The Fall of the Berling Wall maybe ?
    The Navy never was a big giver of ribbons and awards like the Air Force or even Army, until recently, now they get ribbons for putting on their pants right. :-) Yea any service was tough and dangerous, just ask the USS Evans crew and the Belknap and Forrestal guys among others. Nah not me, I have been retired for 15 years. I don't want any ribbion or medal or friggin certificate, especially if it would cost the taxpayer money. Just a waste of resources to me. What I want is for the governement not to take away what few benefits I get now. For those of us who spent enough time or even retired from the service we remember the good times and the bad. Remember the SERB boards that pushed good people out based on some lame requirement only the selection board knew when we started "downsizing" ? I hear they are doing it again but calling it something different. Yea, I had a good time, I'm proud to have served and I met some very fine people, got to travel to far away exotic places, meet people and kill them. Well I suppose I just rambled on and didn't answer the question, but I don't feel any Cold War Navy or other Veteran award is needed. We served and that was that.
    • The Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon was established in May 1980 and made retroactive to August 1974.
      The Overseas Service Ribbon was established June 1987
      That means any of us who served before 1974 are out of luck. A lot of us also missed out on the National Defense
      Service Medal.

      The Cold War lasted from Sept. 1945 to Dec. 1991 with the demise of the Soviet Union. 46 years with a lot training and
      facing down the Soviets; drills and not knowing if it was real or just another drill.
    • If you served before 1974 you should have received the National Defense Service Ribbon. The Navy wasn't much on giving out ribbons "Just for being in the Navy" and I agree with them. You got ribbons and medals for being lucky or unlucky enough to accomplish something or be somewhere at a particular time, that is the nature of the beast. Cold War ? why not give out ribbons for having served during the "disco days" or being give a ribbon for being a Destroyer sailor ? Geez.
      in the years since the creation of the National Defense Service Medal, it is authorized only for the following time periods:
      June 27, 1950 to July 27, 1954 for service during the Korean War
      January 1, 1961 to August 14, 1974 for service during the Vietnam War
      August 2, 1990 to November 30, 1995 for service during the Gulf War
      September 11, 2001 to a date to be announced for service during the War on Terrorism
    • I served aboard the USS Bonn Homme Richard CVA-31 from Sept.1958 to Nov.1961.Your blog say`s that I`am a Vietnam vet (Jan.1,1961 to Aug.14,1974).At the Vietnam memorial here in NYC they have a plaque that says the war was from 1959 to 1974.I was in the V-2 div. Cats & Arresting gear,I made 3 Westpac cruises.I`am I a Veitnam vet ?..It`s been almost 50 years & I have never been told the answer as a fact.I`am covered for use of the VA hospital as of Aug 1961 (as per Vietnam).Maybe you can help answer the question.Thank You for the information you have provided....An old sailor that`s still ready to RE-UP. CVena6@nyc.rr.com
    • I THINK EVERYONE WHO ARE VETERNS SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET VA HOSPITAL OR OUT PATIENT CARE IF YOU SERVED OVERSEAS OR STATESIDE ,IF YOU WERE A WARTIME VET OR IF YOU WERE NOT. NO ONE IN MOST CASES PICKS WHERE THEY GO. YOU GO WHERE THEY SEND YOU. I SERVED IN THE VEITNAM WAR ERA OVERSEAS , BUT ALOT OF THE 8 MILLION WHO SERVED THEN DIDN'T. EVERY VET I THINK SHOULD GET THE SAME CARE.... HOW ABOUT SOME REPLYS TO THIS.
      WHAT DO YOU THINK?????????????????????????
    • Wow, I can't believe that I missed this question. Jerry, all honorably discharged veterans with service after 180 days and all veterans who were honorably discharged due to medical reasons regardless of length of service are entitled to VA health care for the rest of their lives. Now there are different categories that determine whether a veteran gets totally free care such as those vets who have a compensatable disability like my wife, or vets who have no compensatable disability like me. In the latter case, a veteran who is indigent does not pay anything except a few dollars for prescription medication. If a non-compensated vet is employed and has private or employer insurance, then the VA will bill his/her insurance company and ask for no patient share from the veteran, except again for prescription drugs which run $8.00 per prescription regardless of what it is.

      Jerry, you need to report to the nearest VA medical center or VA clinic, preferably with a copy of your DD-214, or at least your service number (Social Security number) and get enrolled. If you have insurance information, bring that too. For years I used VA only for major medical purposes like surgery and the one time I had cancer while in college. Now, my wife and I use VA for all medical purposes.
  • Sorry to say that Cold War Veterans do not qualify for the Sea Service, or Over Seas ribbons. They came about after 1991.
    The American Cold War Veterans, a VSO is working hard to convince Congress to authorize a Cold War Service Medal.
    Please contact both of your Senators ask them to cosponsor bill S.2743 The Cold War Service Medal Act 2009. And, contact your
    Congressman/woman ask them to cosponsor H.R. 4051 an identical bill to the one in the Senate.
    Also this year in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act 2011 there is a provision SEC. 566 to authorize a Cold War Service Medal. The number of that bill is S. 3454. We need to contact all members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees ask them to ensure that SEC. 566 remains intact in the NDAA.
    Check our website www.americancoldwarvets.org also our message forum at http://americancoldwarvets.aimoo.com and my blog
    http://jerry88acwv-americancoldwarveterans.blogspot.com/

    Jerry
    Americancoldwarvets.org
  • The problem lies in the cost to issue the medals to everyone who earned them. I've heard extremely exaggerated numbers on the actual expense but that is what the objection has been in the past. Most of the Veterans groups already recognize one or the other medals and authorize the wearing of such. The certificate programs was an acknowledgement, but not really nothing spectacular. If you want to see it awarded, I'd advise writing your representatives. Personally I hope they wait til the next guy assumes the POTUS position. I really don't care to have anything issued on behalf of this admininstration.
    • I think that half the cost would be the cost of postage, still a small price to pay for the dedicated and difficult service these warriors performed in every imaginable environment and location for half a century, an effort that literally ended the tyranny and threat of global Communism. The actual cost of a medal (at our local Marine Corps Exchange and similar NEX, CGX, AAFES, and mail order sources is around $5.95 per medal w/o the box. The accompanying certificate/citation would be about $2-3 only due to the raised lettering, color and foil medallion if the DoD chooses to get that fancy. There would certainly be some cost to update DoD and VA automated records to reflect the additional award(s), but I think that cost is doable.

      I agree too that every veteran, Cold War and otherwise ought to close ranks and lean on the Congress to make this happen. Veterans have a tendency to throw their sea bags in the corner of the garage, basement or attic, and “get back to work” after their release from the armed forces without looking back. Perhaps we can start something here and encourage other online veterans’ sites and vet organizations to do the same. This is an election year and new candidates will latch onto this when running for office. They will gladly want to score points with veterans and a “sometimes” grateful nation by having their names on a popular legislative bill, especially when it gets signed into law on the White House lawn by the [next] president.
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