The Decorations and Medals of the Republic of Viet Nam (iv)
from John Sylvester, State, and Frank Foster, Army
"The color plates and the written descriptions of the Vietnamese awards are in the order of precedence."
That is, how you display and wear them. So, what is the least of these?
"Hamlet Common Defense Medal. Bội-Tinh Toàn-Dân Bào-Vệ Nôn-Sông. Authorized 1963. Purpose: For service in connection with the First Republic's National Revolution Program."
Recto, bottom of the page. Comes dead last after about 50 civilian decorations that follow about 50 military awards, before all those that are attested as ribbons only, and then the third of the book devoted to decorations and orders of the allies of the Republic of Viet Nam.
Authors John Sylvester and Frank Foster judge the rarity of the Hamlet and Common Defense Medal at 9, the most scarce. They report that someone saw it once for sale in a Saigon medal store in 1964-5,
the year after we supported rivals in the murder of our ally Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Nhu whose First Republic died with them.
With a glass I can make out a rook from a chess set to the left of a right-handed fist holding a xiphos pointing straight up. The two numistatists describe the medal,
". . . design on right of rectangular lines indicating rice fields and on far left city buildings, with two shocks of grain, a castle tower and a hand holding a sword with point upwards, and the inscription "NHÂN-VỊ CỘNG-ĐỒNG VÙNG-TIÉN (Personalism, Community, Progress) . . ."
They go on to say that a series of stamps with the same design and legend came out in July 1963, just before the killings. So we are looking at a defeat 12 years before the fall of Saigon,
some history that never was present, the nationalist, personalist revolution of Diem and Nhu. No one understood it at the time either.
Least prestigious among all national decorations, its medal would have been the one most often worn first. But it is as rare as hen's teeth.
This was fourth 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, the second on March 14, 2022, the third on April 9, 2022, then 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.
Promotional copy:
He jests at scars that never felt a wound. A medal is a scar. The familiar Purple Heart shows your scar on a uniform of the armed services of United States,
as wound stripes did in other armies. Now we wear them on the license plate of civilian vehicle. It is the citizen soldier's - airman's (sic), Marine's, sailor's - medal,
first awarded in our national revolution by George Washington. A medal is also a tattoo, indeed pricked with a needle onto the uniform. A tattoo is a scar.
He jests at scars that never felt a wound. Romeo speaks to Mercutio, his bosom friend about to die in close combat. But the lover speaks of love not war.
A medal shows love. Your commander recognizes your love, on behalf of your country. A chest full of medals is a derisory term in English,
spaghetti on your dress uniform. It's a mean thing to say, something to say about someone you don't love, who has loved someone you don't love, who has loved them as they do not love you.
Fine. Any contempt anyone expresses about any aspect of any war on any occasion is totally okay by me. War is murder and torture, something we do because it is wrong.
Medals are scars of wounds sustained doing something right. Here is another one from the Republic of Viet Nam.
I so appreciate your assisting at this ceremony, as I read this citation. Please consider joining for free the audience for the Republic of Viet Nam and a dozen other things to do with that country you likely have not heard of elsewhere.
Please consider patronizing this variety at $50/year or the whole theater at $250/year. It's a charity. We need some dough but we first need you here at the awards ceremony.