Show me your Vietnam displays

[Spanish Freiwillige]

Loyd, thanks again for your coments on thsi, I was wondering if you could send me your e mail with a cell phone, so we could talk one day. I try to stay in touch with my friends in the forum, regrdless if they are in Europe or the US, If you ever come down to mexico let me Kow!!

[JOHN JONES]

Nice tour jacket and insignia Mr. Miller.
Heres a likewise jacket ' in use'

Regards,
John

[JOHN JONES]

Front........ ( right way up this time ).

[M. A. Miller]

tour jacket

Hi John,
Thanks for the comment on the jacket and insignia.
What is embroidered to the front of the jacket ? I can't quite make it out. Also. It looks like he had a bed fit for a King !!!! Nice pictures, nice jacket. Who are the pictures of ???
Regards, Mitch

[JOHN JONES]

Hi Mitch,
Did a big DPI on the picture.......
As suspected, tigerhead and crossed SVN / USA flags,
dragons on the arms.

As I understand it, these were pre-made based on the nearest big unit,
then you added year and maybe a name if required, or the usual
'spent my time in hell' etc.

The guy is Ronald G. Baker, H- Company Rangers 1968-69.

Considering their 'daily work ', they deserved those 'home comforts'

Cheers,
John

[Mooyman]

Hi John,

Very nice jacket!!!

Ultra Combatant!!!

Best regards,

Ricardo.

[Gunbunny]

Your welcome. I looked at the other pictures and it all looks okay. I dont really like the name tape but I am sure you know it is standard practice to strip our names off our tops when we offload them. If you look they are of two different types of manufacture. The US Army looks in country, the name issue.

During my 8 years of service I never saw mixed tapes but wont discount them. Most incountry insignia was picked up all at once.

Good luck and I am sure you will be happy with it. I would be even with the small inconsistency.

Below is a photo of the jacket I wore from Oct '68 to Oct '69 in Vietnam. Notice the mixed tapes. As a collector I have come across other mixed tape jackets. With it is the PX hat I bought to wear home. Incidently, I had to steal this jacket. In Oakland I was walking out of the shower room with this in my hand and was told I couldn't keep it and to throw it into a large laundry hamper. At that time they were flying us back from 'Nam in our jungle fatigues and issuing new Army Green dress uniforms. You can imagine what kind of goodies were in that hamper! Anyway, I went back in later and smuggled it out in my AWOL bag.



I mentioned earlier in this thread that my arm was in a sling and I couldn't access the bulk of my Vietnam collection, well I just found out I have to stay "slung" for another four weeks! I did have a few items "at hand" and will share them with you. First photo shows a typical "coolie" hat brought back by a merchant marine sailor, a Royal Thai patch, a plastic cigarette pack protector, a recent thrift shop find of a boonie hat in Vietnamese "ERDL" camo, and a plastic bucket with towel, soap, and thread given to civilians as part of the Civic Action program. The bucket was given to me by a man who was a civilian contractor who scouted locations and then built bases down in the Delta area of Vietnam. The Thai patch I found laying in the middle of a road that ran through our battery area!





Here are three Navy patches. Two are Philippine made and the other a 'Nam made PBR Base insignia, plastic covered with Vietnamese newspaper covering the back. I found these and some other rather bawdy Philippine related patches together in a thrift shop.

[Patrick Dempsey]

Hi Mitch,
Did a big DPI on the picture.......
As suspected, tigerhead and crossed SVN / USA flags,
dragons on the arms.

As I understand it, these were pre-made based on the nearest big unit,
then you added year and maybe a name if required, or the usual
'spent my time in hell' etc.

The guy is Ronald G. Baker, H- Company Rangers 1968-69.

Considering their 'daily work ', they deserved those 'home comforts'

Cheers,
John

John,

great period photo, nice to see a photo of a worn tour jacket!


Patrick.

[Patrick Dempsey]

Below is a photo of the jacket I wore from Oct '68 to Oct '69 in Vietnam.

Jeff,

what an amazing array of items, if this is just a teaser of what you have stored away....well, lets just say i am wishing your arm a speedy recovery!

The ARVN camo boonie is beautiful, but the most unique item has to be the Civic action bucket..it it just superb, i have never encountered one like it, just an amazing piece of social history from the war.

I have a fondness for the Thai patch too..another neglected area of reference sadly, i would love to see a close up of the patch in the future if possible?

Thanks for posting the items Jeff, they are wonderful.

I have a few Thai made items starting with this.

The Tunic i find really rather interesting, it looks to me a hybrid of both French and US designs both in insignia and cut.

It has a quartermaster stamping inside the tunic, but alas this is too feint to really pick up via digital pictures.

The belt is quite a flimsy design, so i imagine it was a purely parade item.

The cap bears the Royal Thai Army crest and is made from S.Vietnamese camo.

[Patrick Dempsey]

Cap detail..

[Patrick Dempsey]

A strong French flavour to the insignia on the collar.

[Patrick Dempsey]

Detail of the Parade belt.

[Patrick Dempsey]

And the cap crest.

[Patrick Dempsey]

A US item, but with quality Thai made wartime insignia.

This flightsuit came via a friend in NC who picked it up from the veteran, from where it made its way to me roughly 2 months ago.

I normally do not collect aviation items, but due to the unit and the Thai made patches, i just had to have this..

Flying out of the Royal Thai Airforce base at Udorn in Thailand,the ABCCC was a "flying command post" filled with individuals of different ranks, specialties and responsibilities whose task it was to coordinate the location and destruction of enemy supplies, equipment and personnel.
The unit was also tasked with providing protection to US and allied ground forces, while at the same time, keeping hundreds of aircraft who were in the air at the same time, and in the same general vicinity, from essentially flying into one another.

A few quick photos of the K2B flightsuit.


Patrick.

[Patrick Dempsey]

Unit patch.