What ribbons-medals awards were issued for Marines/Sailors of the 24th MAU deployment in 1983?

PO2 Stephen Wells — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 20:07:27 -0400

I remember there was a Sea Service Ribbon, Expeditionary Medal, and a Combat Action Ribbon. But I cannot remember if there was anything else i.e., unit awards and such.
I'm thinking my DD 214 is not complete. I am building a shadow box highlighting my 30 years of government service 10 of which was active-duty Navy and 20 as a Department of the Army civilian.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 27 at 2022 9:19 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 21:19:38 -0400

The 24th MEU (formerly the 24th MAU) was granted the CAR overall from the USMC Commandant at the time, however the SECNAV decreed that Marines present in Beirut had to EACH verify they earned the CAR for Beirut. The 24th did receive the Navy Unit Commendation for meritorious service from 29 October 1982 to 15 February 1983. In all, the 24th has received the following citations: Navy President unit Citation; Joint Meritorious Unit Citation; Navy Unit Commendation; Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation; Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal; NDSM; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; SW Asia Service Medal; Kosovo Campaign Medal; GWOT-E; GWOT-S; Afghanistan Campaign; Iraqi Campaign.

Obviously, the above listed awards are not specific to 1983. That being said, if your DD214 is not complete, then you would need documentation dictating you are authorized citations/awards from 1983 as being a part of the 24th. If you don't have documentation to back it up, then integrity should dictate to not add these items to your shadow box.

What you can do, if you haven't done so already, is submit a SF 180 to the National Archives for your entire military service documents and see what comes back. And, if the documents come back substantiating what you think you're missing, then all the better. If nothing comes back substantiating, well.......you were either never submitted for what you think you're missing, or documents were never scanned by National Archives and is therefore missing.

Response by PO2 Stephen Wells made Jul 28 at 2022 12:11 AM

PO2 Stephen Wells — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 00:11:58 -0400

Thank you for your reply. As I said I have records and certificates for the Sea Service Ribbon, Navy Expeditionary Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon from that deployment. It just seems that there were others like MUC, PUC, or something of the like. But since I had a stroke, my memories are not what they used to be. That and it's been almost 40 years. I'm lucky if I can remember breakfast.

I have a MUC & PUC from previous commands, but it seems to me that something is still missing from my deployment records from Lebanon, and it's not found in my copies of my personnel file or in my DD 214's.

I never got to the unit until Feb of 1983. I was an oddball in my platoon as I was the only Navy guy that was attached to our unit since the Marine supply folks were not allowed to request medical supplies and equipment. It was the same for my personnel records which caused them to be lost on multiple occasions since they were stored with the Navy medical detachment's records (my being Navy) for personnel processes. Only a few of the medical detachment personnel even knew who I was. That caused me many trials and tribulations that I won't go into here. That and as soon as I returned to North Carolina I was instantly removed from the supply platoon and returned to my original unit in 2 FSSG CLNC which caused my records to be lost once again.

I was just hoping that there would be a record of what units received what somewhere. Thanks again for your reply. It was thought provoking and helpful.