Vietnam Medal

Vietnam Medal
Obverse (left), reverse (right)
Awarded by the monarch of Australia the monarch of New Zealand
Type	Campaign medal
Eligibility	Australian and New Zealand forces.
Awarded for	Campaign service.
Campaign	Vietnam 1964–73.
Description	Silver disk, 36mm diameter.
Clasps	None
Statistics
Established	8 June 1968
Total awarded	18,740 Australian, 3,312 New Zealand.
Order of Wear
Next (higher)	General Service Medal 1962
Next (lower)	Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal
Related	Vietnam Campaign Medal
Medal ribbon Medal ribbon with palm for Mentioned in Dispatches

The Vietnam Medal was a joint Australian and New Zealand campaign medal awarded for service in the Vietnam War.

The medal was jointly developed by Australia and New Zealand, although there were separate Royal authorisation warrants for each country.

Qualification requirements

Australia

Qualifying service for the Vietnam Medal includes:

28 days in ships or craft on inland waters or off the coast of Vietnam.
One or more days on the posted strength of a unit or formation on land.
One operational sortie over Vietnam or Vietnamese water by aircrew on the posted strength of a unit.
Official visits either continuous or aggregate of 30 days.
One day or more by members of accredited philanthropic organisations attached to Australian forces in an official capacity for full-time duty.

between 29 May 1964 and 27 January 1973.

New Zealand

The medal was awarded to all members of the New Zealand armed forces who, between 29 May 1964 and 27 January 1973, either:

served for 28 days, continuous or aggregated, in ships or craft employed in operations on inland waters or off the coast of Vietnam;
served for one day or more on the posted strength of a unit or formation on land in Vietnam;
conducted one operational sortie over Vietnam or Vietnamese waters by aircrew on the posted strength of a unit allocated for direct support of operations in Vietnam;
served for 30 days or more, continuous or aggregated, on official visits, inspections or other occurrences of a temporary nature on duty in Vietnam, or in ships or craft engaged in operations off the Vietnamese coast.

Service terminated by death or wounds, or the award of a decoration for gallantry, led to the immediate award of the medal, regardless of whether the qualification period had been fulfilled.

Description

The Vietnam Medal is a circular medal made of nickel-silver. The obverse bears the crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II with the inscription 'ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F.D.'.^[1]
The reverse of the medal has the word 'VIETNAM' at the top centre above a depiction of a man standing between two symbolic spheres, "in representation of the ideological war in Vietnam".^[2]
The medal ribbon contains a broad central stripe of bright yellow surmounted by three thin red stripes (representing the Republic of Vietnam). The ribbon also has a blue stripe to represent the Navy, two red stripes for the Army and a light blue stripe for the Air Force.
The recipient's name, rank and serial number are engraved on the edge of the medal.

References and notes

↑ 'ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA (FIDEI DEFENSOR)' - Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen, Defender of the Faith
↑ The Vietnam Medal Royal Warrant

Bibliography

Mackay, J and Mussel, J (eds) - Medals Yearbook - 2005, (2004), Token Publishing.
Joslin, Litherland, and Simpkin (eds), British Battles and Medals, (1988), Spink

External links

New Zealand Defence Force - Medal information page
New Zealand Defence Force - Text of the New Zealand Royal authorisation warrant
It's an Honour - Australian government site
ADF Honours and Awards site

Australian Campaign Medals

Mahdist War	Egypt Medal (1882–89)

Second Boer War	Queen's South Africa Medal (1899–1902) • King's South Africa Medal (1902)

Boxer Rebellion	China War Medal (1900)

World War One	1914–15 Star • British War Medal • Victory Medal Mercantile Marine War Medal •

General Service	Naval General Service Medal (1915–62) • General Service Medal (1918–62)

World War Two	1939–1945 Star • Atlantic Star • Arctic Star • Air Crew Europe Star • Africa Star • Pacific Star • Burma Star • Italy Star • France and Germany Star • Defence Medal • War Medal • Australia Service Medal (1939–45)

1945–1975	Australian Active Service Medal (1945–75) • Korea Medal (1950–53) • United Nations Korea Medal (1950–53) • Australian General Service Medal Korea (1953–56) • General Service Medal (1962–1975) • Vietnam Medal (1964–73) • Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal (1968–73) • Australian Service Medal (1945–75)

1975–2012	Australian Active Service Medal (1975–2012) • International Force East Timor Medal (1999–2000) • Afghanistan Medal (2001–14) • Iraq Medal (2003–13) • Australian Service Medal (1975–2012) • Rhodesia Medal (1979–80)

2012–	Australian Operational Service Medal – Border Protection (2012–) • Australian Operational Service Medal – Civilian (2012–) • Australian Operational Service Medal – GMEO (2014–)

New Zealand campaign medals

19th century	New Zealand Medal

Second Boer War	Queen's South Africa Medal • King's South Africa Medal

World War One	1914–15 Star • British War Medal • Victory Medal Mercantile Marine War Medal •

World War Two	1939–1945 Star • Atlantic Star • Arctic Star • Air Crew Europe Star • Africa Star • Pacific Star • Burma Star • Italy Star • France and Germany Star • Defence Medal • War Medal • New Zealand War Service Medal (1939–45)

General Service	Naval General Service Medal (1915–62) • General Service Medal (1918–62) • General Service Medal (1962–2003) • New Zealand Operational Service Medal (1945–present)

Post-World War II	New Zealand Service Medal 1946–1949 (1946–49) • Korea Medal (1950–53) • Vietnam Medal (1964–73) • Rhodesia Medal (1979-1980) • New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 (Warlike) (1956–1991) • New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 (Non-Warlike) (1954–present) • East Timor Medal (1999–2006)

21st century	NZGSM 2002 (Solomon Islands)(2000–2013) • NZGSM 2002 (Afghanistan) – Primary Operations Area (2001–present) • NZGSM 2002 (Afghanistan) – Secondary Operations Area (2001–present) • NZGSM 2002 (Iraq 2003) (2003–present) • NZGSM 2002 (Timor-Leste) (2006–2012) • NZGSM 2002 (Korea) (2001–present) • NZGSM 2002 (Counter-Piracy) (2009–present) • NZGSM 2002 (Iraq 2015) (2014–present) • NZGSM 2002 (Greater Middle East) (2014–present)

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