Gov. Matt Blunt gets a lot of mileage out of his service in the U.S. Navy and he seems to relish the pomp of military ceremonies.

   The governor made a swing through western and northern Missouri this week to pin medals on more than 300 Vietnam-era veterans. The old soldiers lined up – some in jeans and others in dress uniforms – to receive the medals and exchange salutes with Blunt, who remains a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserves.

   The 20,233 medallions purchased under the program will cost Missouri taxpayers $625,423 this year, or about $31 per medal. Lawmakers previously authorized similar medallions for World War II and Korean War veterans.

   The Vietnam service medallions are available to anyone who served on active duty in a U. S. military force from February 1961 to May 1975 and was honorably discharged. Many of the medals, therefore, could be going to guys who served stateside simply because they were unlucky enough to be drafted. Even spouses or other survivors of deceased veterans are eligible to receive the medal.

   In Kansas City, 54 veterans received the medallions in a ceremony outside the Veterans of Foreign Wars national headquarters on Monday. Blunt said the medals were intended to atone in some small way for the rough treatment many veterans received when they returned from fighting an unpopular war.

   Blunt also awarded 58 medals in Springfield, 42 in St. Joseph and 158 in Chillicothe.