Triple Bronze Star Attachment for Vietnam veteran finally!

Vietnam vet receives overdue Bronze Star

Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
Nicholas Boone
May 7, 2019

Crissinger, whose highest rank was Corporal, had three different incidents in Vietnam, which is why he had the Triple Bronze Star Attachment on the Vietnam Service Medal.

LANCASTER - Tom Crissinger said he "just did his job" when serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.

Malachi Draper, 3, points to his grandfather Tom Crissinger's Expert Pistol and Rifle badge after U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers asked Malachi which one he liked best Tuesday morning, May 7, 2019, in Lancaster. Stivers presented Crissinger with seven medals the Lancaster resident and Vietnam Veteran earned during his three years of services in Vietnam with the U.S. Army. Among the awards was a Bronze Star medal with a valor device. (Photo: Matthew Berry/Eagle-Gazette)

On Tuesday, the veteran was awarded a long overdue honor when U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers presented him with the Bronze Star.

Crissinger, of Lancaster, was a radio operator in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971. He joined the army when he was 17 years old and said he was out by the time he was 19.

As a radio operator, Crissinger admitted he was a "human target."

“He was next to the commander the whole time,” Stivers said. “The Viet Cong would look for the radio antenna and shoot at it, so they were (one of the biggest targets in the war).”

Getting Crissinger the accolades he deserves has been a journey in and of itself.

Brittany Stiverson, military case worker for Steve Stivers’ office, spent five months tracking down Crissinger’s DD214, which is a veteran’s military form that shows their service history.
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