AUSTRALIAN VIETNAM WAR MEDAL PAIR, RAAF 2 SQN AIR DEFENCE GUARD PHANG-RANG
Vietnam War pair of medals consisting of the Vietnam War Service Medal and South Vietnamese Star correctly named to A225016 Leading Aircraftman John Albert Linabury who served as an Air Defence Guard at the US Air Base at Phang Rang for No 2 Sqn RAAF who were flying Canberra bombers from Phang Rang. LAC Linabury served from 11 Feb 1970 to 12 Feb 1971 a total of 367 days. This pair of medals comes with a lot of research that shows during 1970 the Phang Rang air base was attacked 30 times by North Vietnamese forces. In addition to carrying out routine night patrols around the airbase the Australian Air Defence Guards (ADG) formed a standing quick response team which could be deployed in emergencies. It is also interesting to note that the Australian ADG were the only personnel who were stationed at Phang Rang that were allowed to operate outside the of the defensive perimeter of the American controlled base.