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Taiwan confers medals on U.S. troops for helping with disaster rescue

Central News Agency

2009/12/15 18:09:49

By Shu-hua Lee, Yung-chieh Chou and Fanny Liu

Taipei, Dec. 15 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) has presented about 600 medals to members of the United States Armed Forces, in recognition of the help and support given to Taiwan in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot, an MND official said Tuesday.

The medals -- bearing the words "In commemoration of the Typhoon Morakot rescue operations" -- were presented to the U.S. troops Monday by Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu at a ceremony that was also attended by William A. Stanton, Taipei office director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the MND said.

Legislator Lin Yu-fang, whose idea it was to award the medals, said that about 600 U.S. troops participated in the search and rescue operations after Typhoon Morakot.

They included 500 Navy personnel from the USS Denver, an amphibious transport dock that was stationed off the coast of Taiwan during the humanitarian mission. The medals were also conferred on members of the U.S. Pacific Command and the U.S. Seventh Fleet, military personnel stationed in Japan, representatives of AIT, and staff of the U.S. Defense Department.

According to Lin, who was also at the ceremony, Defense Minister Kao extended thanks, on behalf of the Taiwan people, to the U.S. for its "brotherly" assistance.

The medals, 3.5 centimeters in diameter, feature the national flag of the R.O.C. and an image of a rescuer carrying a disaster victim.

A total of 85,000 medals were produced at a cost of NT$1.67 million, an MND spokesperson said, adding that some will also be conferred on Taiwan military personnel who participated in the search and rescue operations.

It was the first time in the 30 years since diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Taiwan were severed that Taiwan was awarding medals to U.S. troops.

The AIT reportedly asked that the award ceremony be kept low-keyed.