RISKS "RIGGERS IN SUPPORT OF KHE SANH"
In 1996 members of the 109th Quartermaster Company (AD) began research to gather documentation with a view toward having the Rigger units supporting the USMC and the USAF awarded the PUC. This was to be either through a separate action or by adding the Rigger units to the task organization of the 26th Marine or the USAF 834th Air Division.
The results of the extensive research and subsequent documentation were presented to the Quartermaster General in 2002. Upon review, the QMG enthusiastically recommended action and forwarded the documentation and recommendation to Senator John Warner (per regulations for congressional approval) and the Awards Branch at HQ DA in June 2002. Senator Warner strongly endorsed and forwarded the packet to HQDA.
The attached documentation is the packet that was forwarded by the QMG with subsequent additions. The recommendation (as best known) has resided with the Awards Branch since December 2004. Thus the action to correct this injustice has and will apparently remain buried in the records of the Awards Branch at HQDA. The RISKS (Riggers in Support of Khe Sanh) will obviously go unrecognized as one of the key elements in the successful defense of Khe Sanh. The attached documentation is the packet that was forwarded by the QMG in 2002 with subsequent additions. The most recent recommendation (3 Dec 2004) was returned (12 Aug 2007). The final recommendation by the Secretary of the Army was that the units be awarded another Meritorious Unit Citation (30 January 2006). In light of the attached documentation and knowledge of other units that received the PUC for their role at Khe Sanh, this final award of the MUC is not deemed adequate to correct this long standing injustice from 1968. The DA will only reconsider if additional supporting information is forwarded. This information, if and when, will again have to have congressional backing and come through the chain of command. This action is still considered open pending receipt of additional
information. RISKS believe that eventually sufficient information will
be forthcoming that will correct this injustice when reconsidered by
the Secretary of the Army. Additional information should be sent to
Ray Anderson at 1207 North 10th St., Ballinger, Texas 76821 and/or by
an entry in the Guest Book at Website: US
Army Rigger's Vietnam History Home Page . Request by:
Col. Albert Lanier, US Army Retired.
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