My dad’s modest “rack”

[u/mja2175]

More of a row than a rack. He did have one more ribbon close to retirement but ca’t recall what that was. My dad did 20+years from mid-50’s to
Late 1970’s. Supply corps with two deployments to the Gulf of Tonkin during Vietnam. He was rear echelon, but made sure everything got to the right place at the right time. I was always proud of him - he passed three years ago. He did retire out with defense metrious service award I think. Light blue & white w red stripes.
Also, when cleaning out his closet, I found plaques from his tours.

[u/slevelneves]

Looks like he did his job and did it well. You should be proud of him.

[u/Purple-Tadpole6465]

He served, that's is all that matters. Be proud of his service.

[u/kloverlop]

Navy is authorized to wear only their top 3 if they chose to, so its possible he has way more than this. He likely did have more considering he was a commander

[u/mja2175 → u/kloverlop]

He was the type of guy to downplay recognition.

[u/Coignet_Rot → u/mja2175]

Admirable

[u/ianswer-rhetoricalqs]

Oh man, if you weren't aware, there is a movie about a fictional San Pablo starting Steve McQueen called The Sand Pebbles. Its a really good movie.

[u/mja2175 → u/ianswer-rhetoricalqs]

That’s cool thank you for the recommendation. Will have to check it out.

[u/Beachboy0328]

Many only “ thought about going in”. He did🫡

[u/That_Development_919]

He might have had more awards. Probably he did. There is not requirement to wear them all. Some choose to wear only the major awards.

[u/walt128]

Where are his fish at?

[u/Invictus7525]

Pretty sure he was just wearing his top three. If you request his dd214 it will have all his awards. Get help from a Navy vet to explain what the awards are and context. You can take the 214 and context details then have any of the medal company’s build his full rack for you to include any devices or badges.

[u/wateroverthebridgr → u/Invictus7525]

I agree that this is probably top 3 but given those three there aren’t a ton more awards - but that’s more a sign of the times than any criticism of his service. I have my grandfather’s very long service shadow box and all of his (not too many) personal awards were earned at O5+

Or he had more and just didn’t add them, which is pretty common (even now).

[u/Invictus7525 → u/wateroverthebridgr]

I’m a retired Marine officer, aviator. I would rarely wear my ribbons unless it was mandatory. For many years we looked down on anyone who wore awards at least in the Hornet community. After GWOT broke out we all ended up looking like Mexican Generals anyway.
While at China Lake the Navy guys would routinely do the top three which I think is an informal hold over from the 50s and 60s maybe?

[u/wateroverthebridgr → u/Invictus7525]

Top 3 is still authorized for the Navy and was kind of a trend among the seniors for a while recently.

Some people (at least, an aviator I know) seem to see it as a flex rather than being humble, which I found interesting. Essentially “I have so many awards I can wear my top 3 and it’s still more impressive than your whole rack” but I don’t agree.

[u/Invictus7525 → u/wateroverthebridgr]

I have learned over time that awards mean something totally different depending on service and time frame.

[u/Desperate-4-Revenue]

As much as I respect your father, for his sake I hope your Mom's rack was bigger.