The Decorations and Medals of the Republic of Viet Nam (ii)

from John Sylvester, State, and Frank Foster, Army

Verso, bottom row, second in from left is the war wound medal. Says so on the back in Vietnamese.

Established with State of Viet Nam, a dominion of France, in 1953, the star is the same as the French wound medal that grew from the suggestion of nationalist novelist Maurice Barres for the poilus in 1916,

except the French medal displays the same 5-pointed star as the flag of the Viet Minh. The State and then the Republic of Viet Nam used instead 6 points.

Note also that while this medal for the undisputable fact of blood shed arrived in the birth of the independent nation, as ours had in George Washington’s continental army,

in France it came 1 hundred years after Napoleon had established his program to open his army to all men of talent by offering ribbons and trinkets.

A wound medal is a whole different thing. Used to be they would leave the private soldier to die, or hang him for failing to feed the cannon.

A wound medal is democratic and egalitarian and proof of a nation in arms. Author and publisher Frank C. Foster, Jr. and author John Sylvester, Jr. judged when in 1995 they published this study of the orders,

decorations, and medals of the Republic of Viet Nam and her allies that this war wound medal was nearly as common as could be. That is, many of our allies suffered a wound for their nation,

many carried their medals here in their flight, and many here bought them. You can’t fake that as you can’t fake blood.

This was second post of 6 so far on The Decorations and Medals of the Republic of Viet Nam by John Sylvester and Frank Foster. The first posted on February 21, 2022, then the third on April 9, 2022, the fourth on May 9, 2022, the fifth on June 13, 2022, and the sixth on May 18, 2023.

Viet Nam letters respects the property of others under paragraph 107 of United States Code Title 17. If we asked for permission it wouldn’t be criticism. We explain our fair use at length in the letter of September 12, 2022.

The colophon of these Viet Nam letters, directly above, shows the janitor speaking with poet David A. Willson on a Veterans Day.