Vietcong Award Plaque belonging to Viet Cong Soldier Thao Pham.
This Awards Plaque is part of an extraordinary grouping of VC flags, medals, decorations, memorabilia and soldier personal items acquired in Vietnam by Mr. Jean Phillipe Martinet from Viet Cong veteran Dao Van Duc.
Above is a Red Valley Flower bearing the Liberation War Exploits Order and Soldier of Liberation Orders 2nd & 3rd Class. These medals and ribbon bars are pinned to a white pad, white being the mourning color in Viet Nam, which in is affixed to this small red cloth covered by a cardboard shield shaped plaque. The plaque has an inscription that translates "Belonged to fallen soldier Pham Aka Nhuong who was the fallen soldier brother in law Doan, Hoa Van, died 1968".
This plaque is associated to other items in the ZFC collection:
ZFC3485 Liberation War Exploit Order with Star Medal
ZFC3486 Soldier of Liberation Order 3rd Class Medal
ZFC3487 Soldier of Liberation Order 2nd Class Medal
ZFC3489 Remembrance Red Valley Flower belonging to Viet Cong Soldier Thao Pham.
Mr. Martinet acquired these medals while he was employed by the venerable French water company Lyonnaise des Eaux. From 1989 to 1998 Mr. Martinet traveled often in the Ty Ninh area, and befriended the Viet Cong veteran Dao Van Duc and his family from Trai Bi, between Tay Ninh and the Cambodian Border.
It is not known where Dao Van Duc served while he was with the VC; but during the Vietnam War Ty Ninh was the site of large semi-permanent U.S. hospital, the 45th Surgical Hospital. The 45th was a Medical Unit Self-Contained Transportable (MUST) unit, established in 1966 the hospital was the site of numerous VC mortar and rocket attacks throughout its existence.
After the war Dao Van Duc became a municipal official of the city council of Cu Chi, a suburb of Hồ Ch Minh City and the nexus of the Viet Cong's Cu Chi tunnel complex, which was a major base of operations from which the Viet Cong participated in the Tet Offensive in January & February 1968.
