Help with Vietnam Zippo to "DAVID BROD 3RD 8 HOW BTRY DIRTY THIRTY" and Inscriptions

[pete]

Dear All,

I am in BINH DINH Province in Vietnam working with the Vietnamese Army doing EOD. I have located two contacts here that have a large collection of US Items who i am trying to build a good zippo 1.jpgrelationship with.

This lighter today i had the chance to examine and the pictures tell. I am wondering who can tell me the name of this unit and who they were, i couldn't find the owners name on the wall. I looked up the stampings and numbers an they all jive with the period, and don't appear to be fakes. Neither does the lighter appear aged artificially to me.

The Lighter was ground dug around QHI NHON Airfield. No idea what the stateside value of this item is but would like to know!



Best Regards,

Pete

[pete]

no2.zippo 3.jpg

[pete]

no33.jpg

[pete]

I am now being connected with the owner! Who served in the 3rd 8 inch Howitzer Battery, 11th Marines. Nov 67-July 68 in the RVN.

Pete

[603dasc]

That's outstanding! I'll be interested in how this progresses.

[pete]

Well so much for this lighter!

On the way back from Vietnam, you are not allowed to have a Zippo in your Checked in Baggage- it must be in your carry on.

At the same time when you transit, the Germans don't want a Zippo in your Hand luggage. They wouldn't even give the metal casing part to me and it was explained to them that this lighter has not had fuel in it since 1968 and came from the ground.

Apparently to the disposal area now. I made sure to inform them and their supervisor exactly what they had done and the logic- plus this item was waiting to get back to its owner. No time and not smart to leave the transit area and enter Germany to go to the service desk, else you had to get tested and who knows about quarantines- I was Lucky to have even got out of Vietnam!



Pete

[uscob]

Several times when I got stuff from the UK to Germany, I used the Royal Mail to ship them insured just in case of a loss of Airplane Luggage.
Maybe an Idea to send it registered.
otherwise if you have lots of other Metal Parts in the Suitcase, who should find it.