The awarded and earned medals have always had an emotional attachment and a deep sense. They represent hard work, dedication, tough decisions, courage and fearlessness. War medals carry stories and history in the best or worst possible way.

In particular, the Vietnam medals have a deeper meaning to them because of the war's unpopularity, how it divided the country, and the draft that accompanied it. The Vietnam War, like any war, is more than a conflict, it tore families apart, took fathers away from their wives and children, and many are still suffering from invisible wounds and health problems.

Many veterans who returned home never talked about the war because reliving it is a traumatic activity. The stars have been showing things they should not. The medal design conveys the experience through imagery on the medallion and the ribbon color from which the medal hangs.

The drapery from which the medals hang tells a story of the conflict. The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, for example, has the U.S. national colours in the centre, light blue sections on either side to represent water or overseas service, and the colours on the outer edge of the ribbon may represent areas of the U.S. world troops.

Some interesting facts about Vietnam Medal:

• In 1965, by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Vietnam Service Medal was created.

• The Vietnam Service Medal is awarded for service recognition during the Vietnam War and is authorized to serve members of each U.S. branch. Combat powers, given they follow the requirements for the prize.

• The rules of the Defense Department do not provide for the same duration of service in Vietnam with both the Vietnam Service Award and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Award.

• Veterans of the Vietnam War that are swapping the AFEM for the VSM and provide revised military documents to represent the discrepancy by contacting the National Personnel Records Office, the actual entity that offers record corrections representing an enhancement to the Vietnam Service Medal via AFEM.

FRONT AND BACK OF VIETNAM MEDAL:

• The Vietnam Service Medal front consists of an image of an oriental dragon behind a bamboo grove portraying the deceptive essence of the war, and the inscription reads "REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Military."

• The back of the Vietnam Service Medal consists of upward-facing crossbow that depicts Vietnam 's ancient arms. A fired lighting torch of the Statue of Liberty, inscription "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" is also described.

The Vietnam Ribbon colours represent:

• The Republic of Vietnam flag which at the time was yellow with horizontal red lines.

• The red stripes show the three ancient empires of Vietnam Tonkin, Annam, and Cochin-China which mirror the flag of the Republic of Vietnam.

• The green is symbolic of the jungles in Vietnam.

The concept of the medal is an essential part of informed Vietnam War story:

• The medal 's colours are green to represent freedom and pure white.

• The medallion has six-pointed white enamel stars and six golden rays in the centre of the medallion between each point in the star and has a map of Vietnam. On the Vietnam map, the red "flames" represent the locations of the war.

• This medal is different in that it comes with a default device: the bar attachment "1960-." The 1960 unit, as it is called, reads the start date of the battle, and the open space after the dash was to contain the end date of the Vietnam War, but no end date was applied since they were created and awarded after the war.

Eligibility criteria to receive this medal:

• To receive this medal, the man or woman in service must have:

• Worked six months in the Republic of Vietnam from 1 March 1961 to 28 March 1973.

• Working beyond Vietnam and also getting six months of battle assistance.

• Or have served less than six months but have been wounded, captured, and escaped, or killed in action.