DD-789 VSM with Bronze Star

Dear DennisCurrie ,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

According to the Code of Federal Regulations, the Vietnam Service Medal is awarded to all members of the Armed Forces of the United States serving in Vietnam and contiguous waters or airspace thereover, after July 3, 1965 through March 28, 1973. Members of the Armed Forces of the United States in Thailand, Laos, or Cambodia, or the airspace thereover, during the same period and serving in direct support of operations in Vietnam are also eligible for this award.

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941 - 1983 in the Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (Record Group 24) that include the deck logs of the USS Eversole (DD-789) during the Vietnam War. Some of these records have been digitized and may be viewed online using the Catalog. Please keep in mind that the Catalog does not always display results in chronological order. For more information about any non-digitized deck logs, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RR2R) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.

In addition, the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) provides this information about the Vietnam Service Medal and bronze campaign stars: There are a total of 17 campaign stars authorized for the Vietnam Service Medal. Personnel are authorized one bronze campaign star for each qualifying campaign with a silver star worn in lieu of five bronze stars. The NHHC also offers multiple resources related to the USS Eversole on their website, including this Command History Report from 1968 and this Command History Report from 1969 that may include the information you are looking for. We suggest that you contact the NHHC directly for additional assistance.

We hope this is helpful.

Dear DennisCurrie ,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

According to the Code of Federal Regulations, the Vietnam Service Medal is awarded to all members of the Armed Forces of the United States serving in Vietnam and contiguous waters or airspace thereover, after July 3, 1965 through March 28, 1973. Members of the Armed Forces of the United States in Thailand, Laos, or Cambodia, or the airspace thereover, during the same period and serving in direct support of operations in Vietnam are also eligible for this award.

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941 - 1983 in the Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (Record Group 24) that include the deck logs of the USS Eversole (DD-789) during the Vietnam War. Some of these records have been digitized and may be viewed online using the Catalog. Please keep in mind that the Catalog does not always display results in chronological order. For more information about any non-digitized deck logs, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RR2R) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.

In addition, the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) provides this information about the Vietnam Service Medal and bronze campaign stars: There are a total of 17 campaign stars authorized for the Vietnam Service Medal. Personnel are authorized one bronze campaign star for each qualifying campaign with a silver star worn in lieu of five bronze stars. The NHHC also offers multiple resources related to the USS Eversole on their website, including this Command History Report from 1968 and this Command History Report from 1969 that may include the information you are looking for. We suggest that you contact the NHHC directly for additional assistance.

We hope this is helpful.

An additional source for VSM information is the attached OPNAV 1650  MASTER LIST OF UNIT AWARDS AND CAMPAIGN MEDALS.   Eversole is found on document pages 148-149  (pdf pages 169-170) in AWARDS category "VS" and with dates from 1965-1972.

NOTE - if your inquiry is relative to agent orange exposure, the VSM would not be relevant as the boundaries for eligibility are very different.  If that is the case and you will post the approximate years of interest, we may be able to considerably shorten your log search

.opnav1650 good copy.pdf

Mr. Davidson, I am searching for similar information. I served on the USS Bennington from 1962-1965. I was awarded the Vietnam Medal and that is on my DD214. I am searching for data that shows that the ship was within the relavent boundries for Agent Orange exposure on tours to the South China Sea in 1962, 1963, and 1964. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

dlcutter - We reviewed our various resources and were unable to locate any documentation that would suggest entry into eligible AO presumed exposure waters. Those resources include deck logs, command history reports, and most relevant, the VA's "ship locator tool". The closest we could come was the deck logs for 22-25 May 65 when Bennington visited Bangkok, (a potential PACT Act location). However Bennington was anchored out and does not appear to have moored at a "Royal Thai Naval Base" as required by that legislation.

For reference, attached is a screen shot of the plot for Bennington WestPac travels for 1962-65. These come directly from the VA's primary tool for determining vessel locations an show Bennington remained well outside of the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act eligible locations as shown by the red line.

NOTE - These plotted points include only locations that the VA's scanning software could extract from the deck log scanning project in 2019-2020. A manual review of the logs MIGHT find eligible points, but I personally believe it unlikely.

Sorry we could not be more helpful.