Happy Travails

Fuck you, fuck you very very much
cause we hate what you do
and we hate your whole crew
so please don’t stay in touch
Fuck You Very Much, Lily Allen
_________________

Final PUC installment: The Tacky End.

Ranger feels uniquely honored that two generations in his family have been awarded Presidential Unit Citations (PUC's), and that they were first- and second-generation Americans.

But he remains pissed that his government only sees fit to issue him a 3-cent Kinkos copy of his PUC, poorly reproed at that, where his father has an official presentation copy signed by Secretary of the Navy Forrestal. It's the little things.

Is it that the Navy is a more refined branch of service? Is it that the military in general behaved more respectfully toward its award recipients in the days of yore?

From his Department of the Army letter to "Mr. Hruska": "The Soldier does not receive an individual citation or unit citation." But nowhere in the letter does the DA refer to any Army regulations which dictate this miserly policy. Why not? After all, the Army loves it some regs.

The salve his psyche, Ranger can go online and purchase his own copy of the citation from eBay for $24.95, and they'll even personalize it with his name, rank and serial number. Capitalism at its finest.

Ranger's insults are cumulative. First, MACVSOG was not recognized for over 20 years due to the secretive nature of the mission. Then, Ranger unceremoniously discovered via reading Soldier of Fortune magazine in a bookstore four years after the fact that the PUC was even awarded to his unit. Finally, he was denied the award until he got Representative Allen Boyd's veterans advocate on board.

Ranger admits he is being bitchy. Anyone should be proud to have a PUC xerox copy for his wartime efforts.

File this under: From a Grateful Nation. Fuck you very much.

MACVSOG PUC, Redux: Respect

I'm about to give you all of my money
And all I'm askin' in return, honey
Is to give me my propers
When you get home
--Respect, Aretha Franklin

My blood runs cold
My memory has just been sold
--Centerfold, J. Geils Band

Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields were glory does not stay
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose
--To An Athlete dying Young,
A. E. Housman
_________________

This may seem a tempest in a teapot to those who have never been in military bureaucracy, but if they cannot get even this small citation issue right, that seems indicative of slippages in more consequential areas.

To recapitulate: Ranger finally received his Presidential Unit Citation in February after petitioning and being rejected by the Army's Awards and Decorations branch. It was only through intervention by Ranger's Congressman Allen Boyd, and his veterans assistant Michael Bishop, that the citation, awarded to the unit in 2001, was finally issued to Ranger. Although the letter of authorization and DD215 were finally sent, no certificate was sent.

Instead, what you see here is what he got: no heavy paper, no embossed seal -- just a plain Kinko's 3 ¢ copy on cheap paper.

The citation exists -- Ranger's father has his own PUC certificate earned in World War II with his name indicated on the document, and the MACVSOG PUC certificate has been posted online by its various recipients. It is on parchment, with blue embossing, and bears the official seal. (A Google search turned up a copy online posted by Ranger's associate Fred "Lightening" Wunderlich here.)

The HQ Department of the Army, Chief of the Military Awards branch, actually wrote my senator a letter saying the citation cannot be given to an individual recipient (me). If not to us, the recipients, then to whom? Maybe it just doesn't go to Special Forces officers who are audacious enough to write against the current wars.

What about, "We Support the Troops"? The Kinko's copy of my cert is a finger in my eye, and not a meet tribute from a grateful nation. To Ranger, this is a denigration of his service, and is indicative of the value placed upon his service. Soldiers are not given xerox copies of their awards.

The wording of the citation is even incorrect: twice it is given correctly as "Studies and Observations Group" (SOG); however, six times SOG is called "Special Operations Group" -- a unit that never existed! So 75% of the references to the awarded unit are incorrect. One would think that a document authorized by the President and signed by the Secretary of the Army would be technically correct.

Ranger is torqued that such a simple administrative process has morphed into a typical military run-around. As an aside, he has received his share of "Howdy, fellow snake eater letters" which are invariably from SOCNET sorts seeking to "blow his cover". They usually come back, tail between legs, touting their great contacts on the inside, and how they've vetted Ranger.

Well, if any of you patriots has a contact in awards and decorations, please help me find out why another patriot can't get his PUC certificate. If all else fails, maybe Ebay will come through for me -- they are selling MACVSOG unit citations here. The surrealism of this reality almost trumps Vietnam.

Thanks for your service, boys and girls -- now get lost.

Presidential Unit Citation

Michael Bishop, Military Rep to Congressman Boyd,
pinning Ranger with his Presidential Unit Citation,
2/17/09

_______________

Ranger was awarded his Presidential Unit Citation this week for his service with B53/5th Special Forces group, in a "highly classified mission in 1970."

I remember asking him what he did in Vietnam when I first met him. When he said he was with "B53" I pressed -- "So, what was that?" He shrugged his shoulders and said that's what they called it. This secret name of a letter and numbers sounded a bit fishy to me, until he explained it was a part of the MACVSOG project (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group.)

Ranger was glad to be in the SOG environment at B53 versus Command and Control South, Central and North [CCS-C-N]. B53 was the training camp of the Special Operations Augmentation. As all SOG assets passed through his camp, he saw everything that was being performed by them.

It was a heady experience for a young man. Ranger met, worked with and befriended some great people in SOG -- Bob Howard, Jon Caviani, Franklin Miller, Fred "Lightening" Wunderlich, Frank Norbury and Billy Waugh, among many others.

However, the fact that Ranger's PUC -- officially awarded to the unit in 2001 -- was initially denied, though he provided the Army Awards branch with all necessary documentation, is an indicator that the Army still does not prioritize Special Forces or COIN, despite the lip service. Or, it is a sign of extreme inefficiency.

The award was made 29 years after SOG closed shop. Why so long? The official answer is, "classified missions." (Good luck to those in Gitmo hoping for documentation.) If the Army really cared to recognize us, they could have sanitized the PUC, as they did with Howard's and Miller's Medal of Honor (MOH) citations.

Why was SOG classified anyway? We were no secret to the North Vietnamese Army who had watchers along the entire Ho Chi Minh Trail dedicated to spotting SOG teams. Answer: It was classified because the unit violated Laotian and Cambodian neutrality every time they entered these countries.

The NVA killed hundreds of SOG men: 10 teams disappeared, 14 others were seriously compromised, with every indigenous SOG agent inserted into the NVA compromised and captured. It is safe to say the NVA knew our mission. But because the unit was not a conventional entity, the Army did not and does not consider SOG's recognition a priority.

Dick Meadows, arguably the most famous SOG NCO/officer, had difficulty being retained and promoted. Only repeated intervention by General Westmoreland saved Meadows' career, allowing him to retire as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Imagine: Bull Simons and Charlie Beckwith retired only as 0-6's. SF MOH winners Howard and Donlon both retired as 0-6's in an Army that rewards West point football players 0-6 if they are still breathing after 20 years service.

Yes, Singlaub and Healy made General Officer, but that was only on the conventional airborne side of the house. The Reduction in Forces (RIF's) following the Vietnam war were heavy with Special Forces officers. There was no career protection for Special Forces officers in the Vietnam era.

Ranger is fortunate to have a Vietnam vet congressman who takes a sincere interest in veterans issues, and whose vet rep assisted him in getting his PUC individually authorized. This hoop-jumping with congressional support is par for the course.

It is the same formula Ranger experienced in receiving his Department of Veterans Affairs Service Connection compensation and his Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).

Note to young soldiers: Expect the yellow ribbons to stop shortly after your service viability expires.

Watching the Wheels

What we have here is
failure to communicate
--Cool Hand Luke (1967)
_____________

Ranger recently applied to the Chief, Military Awards Branch, Department of the Army (DA) to receive his Presidential Unit Citation (PUC) which was awarded to MACVSOG a few years back.

Proper authorizing documentation such as his DD214, 5th Group Orders assigning Ranger to B53/5th Grp. and MACVSOG orders, and my Officer Records Briefs were all submitted to verify that all of my RVN service was with B53, which was also designated as Ops 38 MACVSOG. B53 was a Special Operations Augmentation assigned/attached to SOG (Studies and Observations Group.) Secret stuff stuff at the time, but out in the open now.

Ranger was denied his request, but not because he didn't qualify. Instead, the Awards Branch mistakenly read that he had requested the PUC for the 5th Group, which he in fact did not request. Clearly and specifically, sent with the imprimatur of his local Congressman and Vietnam veteran Allen Boyd, Ranger requested the SOG PUC.

This is mentioned as yet another example of failed communication with a DA that can't find its ass with two hands. Whoever deep-sixed my request had not even read the clearly-worded request. Is it possible that DA still doesn't understand the command relationships of the SOA and SOG?

If the Army can't even award a PUC to an old soldier, then how in the hell are they giving proper administrative support to the troops? How can they find OBL if they can't even read a clearly defined request? You will not end up in Brussels if you read is as "Bratislava".

Though this is a minor speed bump, it is far from an isolated event, and is indicative of careless performance of duty and disregard for a serviceman's request.

Will Ranger ever wear this PUC? No. It is but a loose end that needs to be properly documented in my records. Who knows -- it might be worth a free cup of coffee or even put Ranger closer to the front of the soup line one day.

Ranger would also like to point out that he learned of this award by reading Soldier of Fortune magazine. Ranger received no request nor was he informed about the award ceremony. How is that for a thank you from a grateful nation? You would think they would want survivors to attend the ceremony.

Maybe not.

--Jim

_______________

Click the box, then the green circle under post #44
to nominate Ranger Against War for
Best Military Blog: