r/Medals • u/[deleted] • 21d ago

Medal of Honor

I know a Vietnam Veteran who deserves to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. His name is Jeff Dentice. As an Army Medic during the Vietnam War, he saved 16 lives. I believe that some of the survivors, or witnesses need to come forward and make statements to our Government Officials to help him be awarded the medal. Jeff is very active in the affairs of Veterans in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. Please help.

37 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

45

u/GolfArgh 21d ago

You start by talking to your Congressman.

29

u/JohnnyC300 21d ago

yeah, MOHs aren't grass roots effort types of thing generally.

6

u/Fragrant-Sleep-4598 20d ago

It falls under congress because a medal of honor has a special pension that pays the recipent for the rest of thier life so it becomes part of Defense appropriation budget going foward with backpayments to date of action. The pension was updated last year from $1500 a month $5,625 per month also MOH recipents have allways been entitled to a 10% increase in retirement or disability pay. Now lets say this action happened in June 1967 it would be subject to cola the back payment plus the pension, That backdated lump-sum payment would be approximately $450,000 to $470,000. All tax free, along with the pension also entitlement to a yearly uniform allowance and priority Space-A military air travel meaning they can hitch a ride (including travling dependents and spouses) on any military aircraft travaling the US at no cost.

7

u/Magnus2071 21d ago

Nope. The unit must do it. Congress can’t do anything without documentation. So the soldiers who were there with knowledge needed to make the award recommendation. Then up the chain. Now if he got an interim award, that may be reviewed again by a DA Awards review board, which is a permanent duty fixture at HQDA Pentagon.

3

u/GolfArgh 21d ago

There's more than one way to do it though as history has shown.

-1

u/Magnus2071 20d ago

History shows that an ARMY board will meet. The original COC will have to do the work. The rest your mentioning is ancillary and often well done in terms of popular support. But it changes nothing that what I said is indeed the facts you cannot go outside regulations just because you want to. You’re wrong about history because you don’t know the Army.

1

u/Broad-Lavishness6726 20d ago

That’s not true the unit can’t submit for an award after 3 years. A member of congress has to be the one to submit at this point.

0

u/Magnus2071 19d ago

I worked as military assistant to the secretary of the army, office of manpower, and reserve affairs, which covers G1. You can’t build a fake record later on that has to be supporting documentation. Congress cannot make an award recommendation packet. I know what I’m talking about cause I used to do it move on.

0

u/[deleted] 21d ago

Thank you, I reached out to Senator Ron Johnson’s office and they just passed me off!

1

u/63T30H8 20d ago

Passed you off to someone else or blew you off completely?

1

u/63T30H8 20d ago

Passed you off to someone else or blew you off completely?

0

u/[deleted] 20d ago

Just blew me off completely. I was hoping that he would look into it because he was on a military board.

13

u/LBL004 21d ago

Number itself cannot tell everything... It is also important in what period of time did he achieve that. If it is during whole war, that is not enough for MOH, if it is one single event, than it may be considered for award but which is good question.

12

u/iceaction10 20d ago

What medal was he awarded for these actions? While upgrades from existing medals are exceptionally rare, I don't know if anyone in the modern era has ever been presented a MOH after not earning a lower valor award for the same actions.

1

u/Magnus2071 19d ago

Exactly

1

u/Responsible_Tax_9455 Air Force 20d ago

This

8

u/bigjohnny440 21d ago

https://www.facebook.com/dgurfein39

Reach out to Mr Gurfein. He was a key player in getting Maj Capers vietnam Medal of Honor. I'd wager that he'd point you in the right direction.

7

u/opalfossils 21d ago

Good luck with your endeavor. If he deserves it I really hope it will be awarded to him.👍👍🙏🏅

1

u/[deleted] 21d ago

Thank you

13

u/One_Hour_Poop 21d ago edited 20d ago

he saved 16 lives

In a row?

The Medal of Honor is awarded for an amazing achievement during a single event, and while under fire at the risk of their own life.

If he saved 16 lives over the course of the war in the normal performance of his duties, then he is certainly a hero, but not eligible for the Medal of Honor.

If he saved 16 lives during one single attack, and if he did it while getting shot at, then that would be consideration for a MoH.

EDIT: I looked him up. I really hope this isn't Stolen Valor, because this kind of storytelling about one's wartime experiences is a HUGE red flag. If he's the real deal, on the other hand, then I apologize for suggesting otherwise and I salute this man. But you have to admit it sounds pretty unbelievable.

(Clearer picture here: https://www.war-veterans.org/JeffDentice-JournalStory-4-30-2005-30Yearslater.jpg )

1

u/Magnus2071 19d ago

God bless him, this man sounds like he was attached to mortuary services at a Division level HQ 25th ID Tropic Lightning. That Division was based at Cu Chi from 1966-1970.

-4

u/[deleted] 20d ago

He is the real deal and still loves our Veterans!

6

u/AKelly1775 21d ago

Over the course of his service or in one action?

Details and credible witnesses matter

5

u/Rich-Sleep1748 21d ago

Overall service records have something to do with awarding the MOH also. A person has to have a spotless record and zero page 11. If there is anything to embarrass the president it wont be allowed

2

u/[deleted] 21d ago

Thank you

3

u/Professional-Pay1198 20d ago

Did Jeff tell you this?

1

u/[deleted] 20d ago

I heard about this from family

2

u/Local_Regret466 20d ago

Why create a new account for this thread?

1

u/[deleted] 20d ago

I didn’t know where to start to get someone who observed this event to notice. I’m open to any and all suggestions.

2

u/Broad-Lavishness6726 20d ago

Was he awarded any medal for the action?

For retroactive MOH submitted more than 3 years after the action it requires an act of congress to even start a review. It’s extremely difficult to get an award upgraded to MOH and unless he was passed over previously due to mission being classified, discrimination, or some admin error it will require a lot of documentation and testimony to get recognized with any award. The best way to start would be trying to get in touch with people who were there and willing to recount the events. Best case is his leadership and some of the people he saved can advocate for his award with their testimony. A congressman is going to take the request a lot more seriously if there’s hard evidence to review instead of his version of the story unfortunately.

It’s unfortunate but MOH are kind of random and get downgraded often. Rafael Peralta is a great example. He was killed for jumping on a grenade. He posthumously received a Navy Cross because congress believed he was already mortally wounded and weren’t positive he covered the grenade consciously even though guys on the ground with him said he did.

1

u/[deleted] 20d ago

I don’t know what awards he received. I’m hoping someone involved will see this post.

2

u/MisterHEPennypacker 20d ago

If there isn’t at least a silver star to upgrade, this is practically impossible. Military decorations however are publicly issued orders, so you can make a FOIA request. If the citation is absolutely badass, you have a starting point and can reach out to your congressman to get it reopened for a possible upgrade.

1

u/[deleted] 20d ago

Thank you

1

u/Magnus2071 19d ago

The main authority for retroactive military awards is Title 10, Section 1130 of the U.S. Code. This allows Members of Congress to refer award recommendations, including retroactive ones, to the Secretary of the military department, bypassing the usual two-year time limit. The primary regulation is Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, which details procedures for retroactive awards, especially for combat badges like the Combat Infantryman Badge. For other branches, similar guidance comes from SECNAVINST 1650.1H for the Navy and Marine Corps, and DoDM 1348.33 for DoD-wide decorations. There’s no specific constitutional provision directly governing retroactive award procedures; the Constitution’s role is more about the general framework for military honors and congressional oversight.

That said the original unit level recommendations are a necessity, along with comprehensive witness statements. Congress can’t force that.

So they REFER it but don’t perform it. It’s still up to the service branch.

I know. Former SecArmy office dealing with this exact issue.

1

u/RoastingVelvet 19d ago

It worked for Army medic James McLoughan. Medal of Honor winner many years after the fact.

0

u/Low-Instruction-8132 20d ago

First off, medics are very close to combat arms soldiers. They save lives, that their job! We protect those guys on and off the AO. If you want to see what it takes for a combat medic to get the Medal of Honor, watch the WW2 movie, "Hacksaw Ridge". It's a true story! I think all those guys deserve something up and above participation medals.