Are metal type collar tabs ever used on late 60's era dark collar officer service tunics? Thanks Luke.
-
-
An interesting question... I think the answer is that in theory no, they would not as long as we talk about the 1960s...
If we talk about the early -mid 1970s, well I would not be so confident in ruling the combination out, particularly given the fact that fully piped tunics had been used for some times for service too. As always the long wearing out periods of the NVA make laying down clear demarcation lines very difficult.
May I ask what is the reason for asking? Have you got a tunic that has been deprived of collar tabs and are you trying to restore it to its former glory? If that is the case, I would avoid the controversy and use embroidered collar tabs which are still available on Ebay.de for something like €10. -
Well what happened was, I found three dark collar tunics dated 1966 on craigslist and got them for a SUPER deal. Only catch was, they don't have insignia. I just wanted to restore them to their full glory so I'm kind of looking for proper insignia. If that means embroidered tabs then that's what I'm going to do then. Thanks LukeComment
-
-
By the book, a dark collar officer service tunic should have the embroidered service collar tabs.
However, rules were not always followed to the letter and I am convinced that they did occasionally use the stamped metals tabs (which were supposed to be for Parade after 1966) on service tunics.
If the tunics came without collar tabs, I would use the embroidered service tabs. White-piped ones are still not very hard to get. Color-piped ones are somewhat more difficult to find, but they do turn up from time to time. I think it's worth the extra time & effort to be as correct as possible.
And congratulations on a great deal!Comment
-
Thanks for the input guys. I"m going to patient and look for the embroidered ones. I'd like to find something other than white but Gowen is selling sets for $3.00 a pair for infantry so I might just go that route for at least one of them.
-LukeComment
-
Luke,
If you can exercise a little patience, I think you can pick up a pair of colored ones on ebay. You have nothing to lose. And if after a reasonable amount of time, nothing has appeared, I'm certain Bob will still have the infantry collar tabs. Or, since they are relatively inexpensive, buy them but also search ebay for the color-piped variety.Michael D. GALLAGHER
M60-A2 Tank Commander Cold War proverb: “You can accomplish more with a kind word and a ‘Shillelagh’ than you can with just a kind word.”Comment
-
Luke,
One thing I forgot to mention. If you decide to do an Infantry tunic, make sure the base of the collar tabs is a dark olive/green, almost black color.
The collar tabs made during the dark collar era had a very dark base to match the color of the collar. After the switch to the open collar tunic, the color of the base was significantly lighter to match the color of the gabardine material.
Color-piped collar tabs should all have the dark base, as they were of course made during the dark collar era and discontinued after 1974 (although it was permissible to wear them up to 1978).Comment
THREE! I am very envious... 
Comment