I guess I was wrong on the CIB:o , but they apparently have a similar award. I think I can say with certainty that if he was in a Marine recon unit for a year, he saw combat. ( I know of no one in an Army recon unit in nam that didn't qualify for the CIB, the marines were more likely to get into a fight because the were usually Force recon, rather than the 4-6 man LRRP/Ranger units in the Army). Looking at the picture you sent, It is clear that they are indeed a combat unit! There is an M-60 machine gun and lots of ammo for the M14 the last guy is packing.Add the chopper in the background and this is clear evidence that this is not a group of rear eschelon types!!heathicus wrote:I did some quick Google research and found that the Marine equilavent to the Army's "Combat Infantry Badge" is the "Combat Action Ribbon." According to Wikipedia:
Dad was discharged in December of 1967, so that was before the Combat Action Ribbon. I guess this is something he would need to apply for now? I'll have to talk to Mom about that. She is familiar with the process as they had to go through the red tape of having his scuba school recognized.
For the CIB, you had to be in at least 1 actual combat situation.( ie get shot at) It should be on the DD214, but there were errors. I have one on mine.
The DD214 should have all of his individual awards, but the unit awards are not on the 214. You have also stumbled on one of the real Issues of the Vietnam era. The schools , awards, unit insignia or special training often were in place and functioning long before the services recognized them or even knew they existed! I am surprised that the combat action ribbon was authorized that late in the history of the Corps!! Hope you find it all.
Added : You piqued my interest about the CAR. I googled it and found several sitres confirming the award and these details. It was not authorized until late as you said, but it was awarded to Marines serving in Nam from 1 march 61 to 15 aug 1973. You dad qualifies there. Also, a note on the site I looked at says it is the only Marine award that does NOT have an associated medal! My guess is that your dad left the Corps before the CAR was authorized and he did not know it was existed, let alone that he qualified for it. The Ribbon will be easy to get once the paper work is done. Also, you will be able to get unit awards more easily if you can get his unit down to the company level.
