Vietnam veterans are amazing!

After returning home, they continued to serve their communities through volunteerism, advocacy, professional distinction, public service and philanthropy. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) wants to collect the stories of their Vietnam service AND award them for their efforts beyond their military service.

The Service Beyond Service Award recognizes the post-military efforts of outstanding LIVING Vietnam veterans who contribute to their communities.

It costs nothing to nominate your Vietnam veteran!

Awardees will receive:

• A Service Beyond Service Award certificate from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
• A listing among the award recipients on the VVMF web site
• A tribute page in the Registry of Vietnam and Era Veterans, with a special recognition banner
• Pre-registration for the In Memory Honor Roll, honoring Vietnam veterans who died since returning home

Who is eligible?

The Vietnam veteran nominee must meet the following criteria:

• CANNOT self-nominate
• Must be LIVING at the time of nomination
• Must have government form DD 214 that shows service in Vietnam or the area of operations eligible for the Vietnam Service Medal
• Must have received an honorable military discharge, with no civilian felony convictions
• Must be of good moral character
• Must include a summary of the veteran’s “story” of their Vietnam service
• Must include a summary or bullet points outlining the veteran’s post-military service
• Must have either:
  • made significant community contributions at the local, state, or national level by achieving excellence in their selected field or professions, or
  • made significant community contributions through volunteer work, donations, or other philanthropic means

(Those who died during the Vietnam War are honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Those who died since returning home are honored through the In Memory Honor Roll. Living veterans may be nominated for this Service Beyond Service Award and will be included in the Registry of Vietnam and Era veterans.)

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

To complete the nomination, you will need:

• Your contact information
• Contact information for the Vietnam veteran you are nominating (they cannot self-nominate)
• Verification of Vietnam veteran status (redacted)
  • Upload a redacted copy of the Vietnam veteran’s final discharge papers (form DD 214) that shows service in Vietnam or the area of operations eligible for the Vietnam Service Medal. Redact (cover or mark out) the Service Number or Social Security Number before uploading. If nominee received several discharges, please provide the discharge papers that documents service in the Vietnam war.  Discharge papers can be requested from the nominee or from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), 9700 Page Blvd., St. Louis, MO, 63132, https://www.archives.gov or by calling 866-272-6272.
  • DD 214 forms are deleted from our system once eligibility is established.
• A completed and signed Information and Photography Authorization form (Download the form, have the nominee complete it, and upload it.
• Photos
  • Include at least two photos of the veteran, including one from their Vietnam war service if available and one from their post-military service activity.
• A narrative detailing the “story” of the Vietnam veteran (1,000-1,500 words)
  • Tell the story of the Vietnam veteran’s service. This might include locations where the person served, major battles, engagements or operations in which he/she was involved, service branch affiliation, significant medals/awards/recognitions received, etc. Help us understand and document the person and their service. We also are interested in details about how the nominee feels their Vietnam service affected their post-military life. (While not required, the Library of Congress Veterans History Project provides a great list of sample questions to help interview and collect a veteran’s story.)
• A summary of post-military achievements, awards/honors, education/training (up to 1,000 words)
  • This may be in narrative or bullet list format. Provide examples including exemplary professional distinction above and beyond their peers; contributions through educational, fraternal, faith, and/or service organizations; political office; public service; volunteerism; philanthropy; entertainment and more.

For Nominators

Nominators can be almost anyone, including friends or family members, supervisors, employees, or beneficiaries of service efforts. However, we do not accept self-nominations or those from current VVMF staff, Board Directors, or selection committee members.

Information in the packets shall not be falsified in any manner.

Posthumous nominations will not be accepted for the Vietnam Veterans Service Beyond Service Award.

A Selection Committee will review nominations and those selected will be announced on March 29, National Vietnam War Veterans Day. Tribute pages in the Registry of Vietnam and Era Veterans will be created after the award announcement.

NOMINATION PERIOD AND DEADLINE

The nomination period is open from November 11 – January 30. Awardees will be announced on March 29, National Vietnam War Veterans Day.