History 10.03 (Spring 2023): The Dartmouth Vietnam Project: Learning Oral History in a Digital Age

Meritorious service medals and Valorous service medals are imperative for the recognition of the enlisted man.

Anthony Thompson was awarded the Bronze Star for his service assisting the 1st regiment ARVN during combat operations. The awarding of a Meritorious Bronze Star to an enlisted man is quite uncommon compared to the awarding of the Valorous Bronze Star. Anthony Thompson’s role in the advisory period was crucial to the success of ARVN operations. With so few Americans in the country during Thompson’s time in the war ( he was there when only the 100th American had died), his position as a radio operator attached to an advisor held immense responsibility. The Meritorious Bronze Star is usually reserved for officers who completed a tour of duty without any massive failures. Enlisted personnel are also given meritorious medals, however to a lesser degree than the Bronze Star, usually in the form of a commendation medal. Rightfully so, considering the difference in responsibility during their operations between officers and the enlisted. However, the Valorous Bronze Star, and other medals awarded with a “V”device, are much more commonly given to enlisted personnel for their acts of valor and heroism in combat. It is an odd fact of American military service, to have the same name for meritorious and valorous awards, slyly propping up officers as heroes in the eyes of civilians, while making the traditional pathway to the Bronze Star much more treacherous for the enlisted personnel.   

The Purple Heart is an award which recognizes a soldier who was injured or killed while in the line of duty. Robert Munson was awarded the Purple Heart in recognition of the injuries he recieved during the Tet Offensive. When speaking about the award he received, Munson himself criticizes the limits of the Purple Heart award in combat. He deems the Purple Heart to not be a medal of heroism, but rather a box to be checked. Instead of glorifying his award, he seemingly brushes it off saying “So I, you know, that's where I learned, what a Purple Heart is and what it is not. … Because what it really says to me more than anything else, and it writes it in indelible ink. That you were someplace where you were getting shot at and shooting up. Actual live combat action was going on and you were there and you got injured. So that's really what it means, there's no indication of how badly it was or not so. So it's an award that I think of as just kind of a check mark in some respects.” Munson shows an indifference to the award that he claims is widespread in the veteran community. This shows not that combat was a trivial aspect of the Vietnam war experience, but rather that contrary to the valor that many civilians assign to it, the experience of being in combat was normal. It is clear what the qualifications are required to earn the Purple Heart. Thus the ambiguity surrounding the Purple Heart is not based on who gets the award, but their reactions to it. To many veterans, the Purple Heart is not proof of valor or heroism, but that a soldier was in Vietnam and happened to be hit.