Sunday, June 18, 1972
Nixon Awards Vann Medal of Freedom
Vann, killed last week in a helicopter crash in Vietnam, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, with Secretary of State William P. Rogers representing Nixon. The President invited Vann's family to the White House and presented the award for Vann to his oldest son, John Allen Vann, 24. The citation read: "Soldier of peace and patriot of two nations, the name of John Paul Vann will be honored as long as free men remember the struggle to preserve the independence of South Vietnam. "His military and civilian service in Vietnam spanned a decade, marked throughout by resourcefulness, professional excellence and unsurpassed courage, by supreme dedication and personal sacrifice."
"Nixon Awards Vann Medal of Freedom", by WASHINGTON (UPI) published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes on Sunday, June 18, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.