In search of beloved and late, fathers, Vietnam medals and stars

[Zlamal1947]

Hello all,

 

My father Dennis E. Zlamal who passed in 2010, was a disabled veterans association member who served in Vietnam as a decorated second lieutenant in the army. My sister lost all his marksmen medals (several) and 3 bronze service stars/campaign mounts when she ran away from home for personal reasons, she was in Vermont when they were taken from her possession. We have recovered only 3 of them, 1 of his bronze stars (mounted on green, yellow, and red) and 2 of his marksmen medals (rifle and one green, yellow, and red campaign) I believe it’s called campaign, my mom is more knowledgeable about the exact name of that one but she is included with me in this post and search so if questions arise I will be able to answer them beyond my knowledge at the current moment of me typing this. My dad was deployed in 1966 and served until 1976, he experienced loosing his entire platoon in a matter of seconds due to a mine field and in our opinion, should’ve received a Purple Heart based off the happenings and affects of that day. He told me of that day, and how he should’ve been in front like he was supposed to be, so those men could’ve made it that day. My dad was a wonderful man, but disabled to the point that my last 3 years with him were spent with him not being able to leave the house anymore due to war PTSD finally consuming him most days. He was my best friend, and always will be my best friend. We were wondering if anyone was lucky enough to have any of the medals etc that he is missing, or better yet his name tag and original uniform that he did not have when he met my mother in the late 80s. 
 

thank you:)

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thank you for your post. I’m sorry to hear of your father’s passing. Let’s back up a bit: do you have a copy of your Dad’s Discharge Certificate, Form DD-214? If you do, you can request a free replacement set of engraved medals from the Government. Here’s the website for that: https://www.hrc.army.mil/content/17864

 

Meanwhile you can continue your hunt for his original medals. 

 

From your photo of him in Vietnam it looks like he was an Air Defense Artillery officer. Is that correct? If it is then he may have been assigned to a Military Assistance Command - Vietnam (MAC-V) advisory team. More information about these teams is available here: https://macvteams.org (I’m just guessing that he served in MACV, he may not have.)

 

Also you may be able to find more information about his activities in Vietnam by requesting such information from the National Archives: https://www.war-stories.com/after-action-step-one.txt

 

Good luck in your quest and welcome to this forum.