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Vindication4Vietnam veteran finallyreceives combat medic badgeBy Diana Wallacedwallace®daily herald, comDonald Butch Kribbs returned from Vietnam in 1968 shaken from his experiences as an Air Force medic but hopeful he might build off them for a civilian career.Maybe, he thought, he'd become a paramedic.That hope was dashed when he learned Illinois didn’t then allow military service to be applied as credit toward civilian job training. If he wanted to enter the medical field, he'd have to start from scratch.Kribbs, now 61 and living in Hoffman Estates, didn't feel he had that luxury; he needed to find work.He soon began what became a 30-year career as a UPS driver.But another disappointment from that era lingered in the back of his mind for decades: Kribbs was never recognized with a combat medic badge, though he met the criteria of serving under direct fire with an infantry unit. :He’d been sent to Vietnamin August 1967. He was there during the Tet Offensive and, though enlisted in the Air Force, spent most of his tour as a medic on an Army combat team.He still has trouble talking about that year but did offer that, as sometimes the only medic for miles, he delivered babies, performedminor surgeries and amputations and had to treat a badly injured member of his own team — often while under fire himself.Over the years people asked me what I did and when I told them, you’d get these guys who'd say, ‘Yeah, right,’’’ Kribbs said. “I had nothing to show for it.”In 1998, after reading a VFW magazine article that seemed to confirm his eligibility, Kribbs tried for years for the badge.Eventually, the Pentagon denied him, citing the fact he hadn’t been enlisted in theArmy.Then last year, his brotherBob contacted U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton, who took up his cause. Six months later, Kribbs received a letterveryniceiCOURTESY OF TINA M KEENADonald “Butch” Kribbs of Hoffman Estates receives his combat medic badge more than 40 years after serving in Vietnam.from the Pentagon, this time in his favor.He very much wanted this. I think he deserved it,” said Bob Kribbs, a Winfield resident who also served in Vietnam, as did another brother, lames.A fourth brother, Dennis, served in the Navy.When you think of somebody who put his life on the line to help others, that should have been recognized,” Bob Kribbs said. It's just shameful that he was never acknowledged.That changed last Saturday, when Roskam awarded ButchKribbs his combat medic badge in front of family and friends at the Streamwood VFW hall.It not only means the world to him to finally be recognized — too bad it took 40 years — it means a lot to me as well to see him so happy,” said Kribbs’ daughter, Tina M. Keena of Vernon Hills. VyfiMvifiKribbs was modest in describing what it means tohim.At least it’s finally acknowledged,” he said. It’s a little vindication, and it’s just verynice.ff
Newspaper Details
Arlington Heights Daily Herald Suburban Chicago
Arlington Heights, Illinois, US
Thu, Jun 11, 2009
Page 101
Full Page
Clipped by
Schaumburg T.
IL, USA 03 Mar 2019
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