COAST GUARD PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION

The Coast Guard Presidential Unit Citation (PUC) was established through the authority of President Dwight Eisenhower’s Executive Order 10694, which also authorized the establishment of a separate PUC for the United States Air Force. It is awarded to those units that, operating under extremely hazardous and difficult conditions, display levels of determination, gallantry, and esprit de corps in accomplishing its mission that make it clearly stand out from other units taking part in the same campaign. To be eligible to wear this decoration, Coast Guard Personnel must have been serving with the cited unit during the period it was performing the actions for which it has been recognized.

Prior to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the only Coast Guard units that had received this highest of honors were those that had been deployed to Vietnam as part of the “brown-water Navy” operations conducted in the coastal waters and rivers of South Vietnam in late 1968 and early 1969. In the aftermath of Katrina, President George W. Bush awarded the PUC to all Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary serving aboard units that took part in the rescue and relief operations between August 29 and September 13, 2005. Personnel authorized to wear the PUC for these actions wear the ribbon with a clasp in the shape of the meteorological symbol used to denote hurricanes.

Below is a list of the Coast Guard units that were awarded the PUC and the operations in which they participated during the Vietnam War. Because their citations were authorized by the Department of the Navy, they were awarded the Navy version of the PUC. To date, only those Coast Guard units that received the award for the Katrina recovery efforts wear the Coast Guard version of this award.

Operation Sea Lords: 18 October 1968 - 05 December 1968

Unit	Hull Number
CGC Bibb CGC Ingham CGC Point Caution CGC Point Cypress CGC Point Grace CGC Point Marone CGC Point Mast CGC Point Patridge CGC Point White CGC Point Young CGC Wachusett	WHEC 31 WHEC 35 WPB 82301 WPB 82326 WPB 82323 WPB 82331 WPB 32316 WPB 32305 WPB 82308 WPB 82303 WHEC 44

Task Force 115 (Operation Swift Raider): 06 Dec 68 - 31 Mar 69

Unit	Hull Number
CGC Ingham CGC Mendota CGC Point Arden CGC Point Comfort CGC Point Cypress CGC Point Dume CGC Point Ellis CGC Point Gammon CGC Point Garnet CGC Point Glover CGC Point Grace CGC Point Jefferson CGC Point Kennedy CGC Point Lomas CGC Point Marone CGC Point Mast CGC Point Orient CGC Point Welcome CGC Point White CGC Point Young CGC Spencer CGC Wachusett CGC Winnebago	WHEC 35 WHEC 69 WPB 82309 WPB 82317 WPB 82326 WPB 82325 WPB 82330 WPB 82328 WPB 82310 WPB 82307 WPB 32323 WPB 82306 WPB 82320 WPB 82321 WPB 82331 WPB 82316 WPB 82319 WPB 82329 WPB 82308 WPB 82303 WHEC 36 WHEC 44 WHEC 40