Was a previous post about the Purple Heart and I didn’t want to hijack it.

It wasn’t until 10 years ago that I realized my uncle was an oak leaf cluster recipient, and I’m not entirely sure if it was all Purple Hearts …or what.
He passed away on Christmas Day in 2006. From what I was told
He served 2 tours in Vietnam, was injured both times.
The last one was pretty bad.
He was with a few of his fellow soldiers and they got separated from the others.. they hid inside of a cave or hole. Of some kind and they were sniffed out by dogs( I didn’t know that the viet cong had dogs for that purpose).
They threw gernades down in there and only 2 survived,, my uncle and another guy.
He was full of shrapnel and badly injured.
He still had shrapnel in his body when he passed I guess.

He was pretty smart,,, was studying to become a ranger for the United States national park service.
The war messed him up.. both physically and mentally.

Was your uncle in the army or a different branch ? The oakleaf is applicable to several different awards but from your description it sounds probable that it denoted the second award of the purple heart or possibly some other personal decoration or unit citation. Marines or navy use a small star instead of the oakleaf.

I never saw or knew of the VC or the NVA to use dogs. They DID however put bounties on dog handlers and the dogs themselves.

The small star denotes a combat award, never used for subsequent awards as far as I ever heard. I believe all branches were the same.

I am pretty sure that marines and navy use a small star for subsequent awards rather than the oakleaf


Purple heart is only given for wounds received in combat. Even if the wound is a result of friendly fire it must still be an active combat circumstance

I think Ken has it right about the oak leaf cluster, they denote a previous receiving of the same award or decoration and are used by the Army and Air force. If you earn five bronze oak leaf clusters for the same award you replace them with a silver oak leaf cluster.

They are not used to differentiate awards earned in combat or not.

I don't know about the stars used by those other branches.

Hey Bob........perhaps you are thinking of the V device attached to some specific awards ..those are absolutely awarded "specifically for individual acts of heroism, valor, or combat-related personal hazard"

"V" for Valor, added to an award to bump it up a notch.

Foxkidd44,

An Oak Leaf Cluster is granted to a member of the U.S. Army or Air Force who has been previously wounded and who already has a Purple Heart.

And a Gold Star is awarded to a member of the Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard for the same purpose.

For ANY SUBSEQUENT award of the same medal.

Not to be confused with a Gold Star Family! That is one that has lost son/daughter in service......jk

Thanks for the replies guys,,, going to the town were he’s buried next week,, I’ll stop by his grave and take a picture. Maybe you guys could help me better understand.

You should be able to get your uncle's military service records though the National Archives and Records Administration. Their website is:

https://www.archives.gov/veterans

I recommend that anyone interested in their family history do look at their relatives records, especially because some are reluctant to talk about their service. What they did for our country is important. We would have a stronger, more loyal culture if people were more knowledgeable about their familial connection to American history.

Keith