Two military service awards for Vietnam War era draftees and volunteers

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Two military service awards for Vietnam War era draftees and volunteers

June 22nd, 2014

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

A new Conscription Ribbon to be awarded to all men (really boys) who were drafted and served honorably in the United States Military, from 1 July 1958 through 7 May 1975, because we did not need to be pardoned; to include veterans who are eligible for the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for service in Vietnam. To be all inclusive, I also propose that the current Meritorious Service Medal be awarded to all Vietnam War era military draftees, draft-induced volunteers and true volunteer’s which would require that the date be modified.

During the Vietnam War, according to the Gates Commission Report, 1,857,304 conscripts/draftees (temporary military personnel for 2 years), were needed to fill essential positions not covered by draft-induced volunteers and true volunteers. Private contractors in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars are doing jobs previously performed by draftees, junior NCOs and junior officers in Vietnam.

Men, who illegally avoided the Vietnam War draft, by either leaving the country or refusing to register, received a Presidential Pardon on January 21, 1977 without a thank you being given to the draftees. Other than the Vietnam War, draft dodgers have never been pardoned en masse before which makes Vietnam War draftees an identifiable subgroup of veterans within the veterans’ community. So I feel that our country should recognize the men who met their legal and moral obligations when they were summoned to active military duty. Clearly, being forced to serve in the military, during a war, is not the same as volunteering; both enlistees and draftees were needed.

I was drafted in November of 1965 and my tour in South Vietnam was from 1966-1967. In effect my Draft Notice was altered, after the fact, because of The Pardon; the idea of a Conscription Ribbon occurred to me in November of 2008. Our elected governmental leaders need to recognize that one unintended consequence of The Pardon was, figuratively speaking, a slap-in-the-face to all Vietnam War era draftees and their families; plus, it empowered the draft dodges and their supporters. And draft dodgers are not patriots or antiwar heroes as one national veterans organization, Veterans For Peace, proclaims. I’ve yet to hear one draft dodger thank the man who took his place in the Vietnam War era draft.

Arizona Senator John McCain and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski forwarded my Conscription Ribbon idea to the Department of Defense for review. In a letter from the Department of Defense, dated September 1, 2010, Deputy Under Secretary, William J. Carr stated, “…the Department cannot support Mr. Cook’s request…”. So in 2010 I asked all 100 U.S. Senators, in writing, to support my Conscription Ribbon idea and some members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Our President and/or Congress could authorize both proposed military service Ribbons. Men who were forced to serve in our military, during a time of war, and the honorably discharged true volunteers, draft-induced volunteers and draftees were insulted by President Jimmy Carter’s pardoning of the Vietnam War’s illegal draft dodgers.

Proposed Conscription Ribbon:

My original design deliberately incorporates the Vietnam Service Ribbon and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon because both are highly recognizable by Vietnam Veterans: The dark-red capital C represents conscription and the red symbolizes the blood shed by draftees with the broken olive branch representing war. The Meritorious Service Medal is a current medal/ribbon.