Award of the Cambodian National Defense Medal to an American ’Green Beret’ F, C, Brown, Omsa #2073

AWARD OF THE CAMBODIAN NATIONAL DEFENSE MEDAL TO AN AMERICAN ’GREEN BERET’ F, C, BROWN, OMSA #2073

Of the millions of American military personnel who served in Southeast Asia from 1960 to 1975, no more than a handful were awarded the Cambodian National Defense Medal.1 Among the actual recipients the majority were U.S. Army personnel, usually Special Forces, who were involved in clandestine training missions i~side Cambodia from 1970 to 1975. One individual who was awarded this rather unusual decoratio~ was Captain Shelby L. Stanton~ AUS (Ret), today a prominent author and historian. He received his medal for services to the Cambodian Government while attached to the 46th Special Forces Company, then operating out of Thailand. An ROTC graduate of Louisiana State University, where he was a Distinguished Military Graduate, Stanton entered the Army in 1969. He completed the Special Forces Officer Training Course, then the Electronic Monitoring Course, and was commissioned a Second Lieu- tenant in May 1970. After additional advanced technical training he was posted to Lopburi, Thailand, with the 46th SF Co., in 1972, where he served as Executive Officer of Detachment A41 (Ranger), the only SF unit accorded the Ranger title. Following d~stinguished service in the field, the Cambodian National Defense Medal was presented to Captain Stanton and selected members of his team in January 1973 at Siem Reap, Cambodia, by Colonel Thach Reng, Cambodian Special Forces Commander.~ The medal was awarded in recognition of services to the Cambodian Government under the aegis of "Project Freedom Runner," which involved training Cambodian Special Forces units. Captain Stanton went on to perform additional hazardous missions in both Laos and Cambodia, as evidenced by his other awards:

BRONZE STAR with "V": for services while attached to the Defense Attache’s Office, in support of Project 404 (Laos). AIR MEDAL: for combat insertion into Cambodia, 1973. PURPLE HEART: for wounds received in combat on 5 February 1973 at Landing Site 152, Vien Pou Khe, Laos. JOINT SERVICE COMMENDATION MEDAL: for services while attached to the Defense Attache’s Office, in support of Project 40~ (Laos). ARMY COMMENDATION MEDAL: for service with the 46th SF Co., Thailand. ARMY MERITORIOUS UNIT CITATION: for services while attached to the Defense Attache’s Office, Laos. ARMED FORCES EXPEDITIONARY MEDAL: for service in direct support of Cambodian operations, while operating out of Thailand. NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL with one star VIETNA\~ CAMPAIGN MEDAL with device 19 CAPTAIN SHELBY L. STANTON, AUS (RET). THE RIBBON FOR TttE CAbIBODIAN NATIONAL DEFENSE MEDAL IS ON THE BOTTOM ROW, NEXT TO THE NATIONAL DEFENSE RIBBON.

Captain Stanton is also authorized to wear the Combat Infantry Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Badge, Army Basic Parachute Badge, Royal Laotian Parachute Badge, and the Thai Basic Parachute Badge. As a result of hls severe wounding ~n Laos in February 1973, Captain Stanton was hospitalized, and later medically discharged from the Army. His Purple Heart is interesting in that it certainly ~as among the last to be awarded for Indochina service. 2O As an aside, readers of The Medal Collector might also be interested in knowing that Captain Stanton, in ~-a~-~-~-~n to being a prominent author, is also a well-known attorney, artist, cartographer, and military lecturer. His books to date include Vietnam Order of Battle and U.S. Army World War II Order of Battle, ~t~ recognlzed as -~ndard-~e~e~-~-nce %~s~--~h~-R~--~n~-Fa~-~-~ An American Army ; and The Green Berets at War. He recently compl~e~--a~-~-~o~n the F~st~ Cavalry Division in Vietnam, and is currently research- ing a book on the X Corps in Korea.

i Properly titled the Medal of National Defense (~eday Karpear Cheat in Cambodian; Medaille de la Defense Nationale in French), this decoration was established on September 9, 1948. It was the equivalent of the French Croix de Guerre and was awarded by both the Royal and Republican Governments for acts of bravery accomplished for the defense of the national territory, and for the repression of acts of rebellion and piracy. 2 A large number of Cambodian Special Forces personnel, including many who served in the field with Captain Stanton, were killed in action durin~ the vicious fighting around tbe town of Kampong Cham in October 1973.

THE RIBBON BANK

From time to time, we will include selections available from the Ribbon Bank in a listing in The Hedal Collector. It is hoped that this will encourage our mem~-f~ to ~-~k~vantage of tb~s benefit. (NOTE: The Ribbon Bank Manager’s address is on the inside Front Cover).

ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS: I. Make Checks or Money Orders payable to: ORDERS and MEDALS SOCIETY o~ AMERICA or OMSA RIBBON BANK 2. Prices: Ribbon Length (5-6 inches) ...... S[.00 Ribbon cut (i-i i/2 inch) ...... SO.30 Ribbon yardage ...... price on request Devlces/hardware ...... $0.20 [un]ess otherwise marked ] 3. Postage: I-4 lengths ...... enclose SSAE 5-10 lengths ...... s0.39 Each additional I0 Lengths ...... $0.39 Inciude a Stamped Se]f-Add~essed Envelope (SSAE) requests requiring a response. include a postcard for answers to questions aeout ava, iab;iity. Ribbon Bank L~st ...... i October 1987 ...... List pr*ce SI,25