Campbell Receives Medals for Service in Vietnam War

HOLMDEL – Three dozen New Jersey veterans were honored, some posthumously, May 7 with medals for their service in time of the nation’s wars. Among them was Herald Managing Editor Alfred S. Campbell, a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War.
The ceremony took place under the auspices of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, during the annual New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day ceremony at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Campbell received the New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal and Vietnam Service Medal.
A Court House resident, he served for four years as a radioman. He served at Fleet Operation Control Center, Pacific on Oahu, and for 14 months aboard USS Gallant (MSO-489).
The Gallant, homeported in Long Beach, Calif., began its voyage across the Pacific Ocean March 17, 1971 to Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam. It arrived there June 14 after a delay in Guam due to engine problems.
Gallant patrolled the coastal waters of the South China Sea for the remainder of that summer.
The New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal was originally issued in 1858 for those who had distinguished themselves in the New Jersey Militia, but was infrequently used until re-authorized by Gov. Thomas Kean in 1988.
After the Spanish American War, the Mexican Border Expedition and again after World War I, the State of New Jersey minted special medals for returning NJ veterans to honor their service.
However, after WWII, Korea, Vietnam and subsequent combat actions no such medal was available. The State of New Jersey sought an appropriate way to honor these returning combat veterans and acknowledge the debt the state owed them for their service.
The Distinguished Service Medal was re-authorized for this purpose and is New Jersey’s highest military award.
The Vietnam Service Medal was created by the New Jersey Legislature in 2000 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the United States, North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the National Liberation Front’s provisional revolutionary government signing an agreement to end the war in Vietnam.