Don’t let this happen.
I served with many Australian sailors who were treated this way after Vietnam - all the sailors on the troopship HMAS Sydney and her escorts were told they hadn’t served in Vietnam despite repeated trips there and sitting in Vung Tau harbour for days at a time within range of enemy mortar fire. It was a disgusting act by a cowardly government who just wanted to save money on pensions.
It took until the mid 1990s to fix it.
If you deploy into a situation where you can reasonably expect to be attacked, you deserve to be recognised as having served in a combat situation.
Amen