65° Knight of the Grmnd Cross~ ist Class~ of the Order of the Sw~rd of Sweden~ Awarded and presented on 17th March~ 1942.

66. The Insignia of the Grand Officer of the Military Order of Savoy of Italy. Awarded on 2~th May~ 1942o

67,to 69, The Insignia of the Military Order of Michael the Brave (Mihai Viteazu) of Rumanla~ I-III Class~ 1941.

70. Grand Cross~ with the Crown of St. Stephen~ War-Ribbon and Swords~ and the Order of Merit of Hungary, Awarded in 1942,

71. Grand Cross with Swords and Danica-Crown of the Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir of Croatia. Awarded in 1942.

72. Grand Cross of the Order of the Rising Sun of Japan~ with the Grand Star of the Order of Pawloniao Awarded in 1942.

THE VIETNAM SPECIAL SERVICE MEDAL by Frank C. Brown & Vernon R. Brook

The South Vietnamese Special Service Medal, sometimes re- ferred to as the "Clandestine Service Medal", was awarded or post- humously awarded to military personnel and government civilian em- ployees who had distinguished themselves by extraordinary deeds or had accomplished an important mission that involved risk of life and required exceptional fortitude and aggressiveness.

The Special Service Medal was also presented to foreign mil- itary personnel who served at the side of units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam and whose actions met the above stated requirements.

Vietnamese and foreign civilians were eligible for the award of the Special Service Medal if they fulfilled the prescribed require- ments and the accomplishment of the mis£ion was held to be beneficial to the war effort.

The Special Service Medal has only one class, and ranks fourth in order of precedence of military decorations, behind the National Order of Vietnam, the Military Merit Medal, and the Distinguished Service Order of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The ribbon for the Special Service Medal has five red stripes alternating with four white ~tripes, each 4 mm wide. Width of the entire ribbon is 36 mm, and the length is approximately 54 mm.

The planchet is a black enameled circle 17 mm in diameter, with a right human forearm and hand grasping the hilt of a dagger with the blade pointing down, all in silver. The fingers and dag- ger are left of the center of the circle. The point of the dagger overlaps a 2 mm circling band on which the words BIET-CONG BOI-TINH (Vietnamese for Special Service Medal) in stamped capital letters on the top portion of the band. There are 40 vertical lines on the lower half of the encircling band, framed by a "V" on either end. Extendingout from the band are eight equally spaced silver triangu- lar rays, ridged down the center. Length of the rays are 8 mm with the bases being 5 mm at the band. The top ray ends in a circle, 4 mm in diameter. An attachment pin 2 mm wide passes through the circle and over the samll end of a silver trapezoid band, the large end holding the ribbon. The reverse side has the word VIET-NAM in stamped capital letters enclosed in a 12 mm diameter circle which in turn is enclosed by another circle 1 mm away. Above and below the word VIET-NAM are six horizontal lines which do not quite touch the enclosing circle. On the ribbon is a silver miniature of the plan- d%et, 14 mm in diameter from the ends of the rays. Weight of the planchet is ii grams.