Whats the best site for South Vietnamese and Cambodian army stuff

[Jeff Ashenfelter]

Here is another advisor's beret, note which side the flash is on. This beret is an early one piece variety with a strange flash backing. Wool is of very high quality.

[Jeff Ashenfelter]

A better shot of the strange rectangular flash backing! Jeff

[Patrick Dempsey]

Hi Jeff,

i am very green with envy!



A rectangular flash...good lord!

Have you encountered similar on other berets at all?

Thanks for digging them out and posting.



Patrick.

[Jeff Ashenfelter]

Hi Patrick, thanks for the kind words. To my recent memory I cannot recall seeing any other original berets with a rectangular flash backing. Here is another beret which I am not completely sure about it's unit of origin. The 197th AHC which was eventually attached to the 334th Attack Helicopter Company had the name of the (playboys). This is a well known fact and not in dispute. I have also heard however that the NCO club in Danang also had the nickname given to it as the same and had this same design on the building. If anyone can shed some light on this subject for clarification, I would appreciate it! I have also seen this same patch quite a few times but this is one of several I have seen on a beret. Here is the beret. Jeff

[Jeff Ashenfelter]

closeup of the (playboy) flash.

[ETN]

Jeff,

Just curious, but have you ever seen any period photos showing an ARVN beret with the insignia on the opposite side in wear? I once heard that berets such as these were meant for US advisors. Any thoughts/info on this?

~Erich

[hochiminhtrail]

Hi

i was told that Armor berets for advisors were worn on the other side.

Cheers

Alex

[Jeff Ashenfelter]

Erich, many photos exist of the berets that you mentioned. US predominately left eye, ARVN right eye. However there are exceptions to both. As Alex mentioned ARVN armor units are left eye and US navy is right eye. Advisors to ARVN units usually wore there Vietnamese flashed berets according to US regulations but not always. It pretty much was up to the whim of the individual. Don't look for uniformity and golden rules because there aren't any! Jeff

[ETN]

Erich, many photos exist of the berets that you mentioned. US predominately left eye, ARVN right eye. However there are exceptions to both. As Alex mentioned ARVN armor units are left eye and US navy is right eye. Advisors to ARVN units usually wore there Vietnamese flashed berets according to US regulations but not always. It pretty much was up to the whim of the individual. Don't look for uniformity and golden rules because there aren't any! Jeff

Thanks Jeff. Do you happen to have any photos of this you can post? Seriously, I have never seen a period photo of US advsior wearing the flash on the left side. I know that it was done, I just haven't seen it in photos.

~Erich

[nguoi tien su]

Good morning,

I have followed the last posts and really enjoyed the variety of berets, some are really awesome (I like very much the 4th ACS!)

Advisors to ARVN units usually wore there Vietnamese flashed berets according to US regulations but not always. It pretty much was up to the whim of the individual. Don't look for uniformity and golden rules because there aren't any! Jeff

Jeff, I am very much surprised by your reply?

For me the rule is quite simple : VN unit, VN rules ; US unit, US rules?
I think only the Armor units wore the beret US side, to avoid that the tank on their patches will go the wrong way. (unlike the Junk Force, it does not look very fierce!)
Otherwise, the Vietnamese always wore the beret french style, and their advisors did the same?
I will be very glad to see photos showing US advisor with the flash on the "wrong" side.

NTS

[nguoi tien su]

During my short stay in France, I have had the opportunity to make a few shootings, especially of copies.



Here is the first generation of paper label reproduced by the main saigonese dealer. It is not nice as the real one, plain. Just paper, not crispy.

[nguoi tien su]

The following photos are the second generation.
Those are really dangerous... The design is awesome, it is made with bright colors, red and gold, the paper is crispy.
They are the only ones I know, but it might have others...
You can find them in berets and in caps as well.





Frightening...

NTS

[nguoi tien su]

And the last ones are the copies of the neck tabs...



I think there are 4 colors, the missing ones are yellow and black dominant, if I remember well. They are a little more shiny than the real ones.



NTS

[Jeff Ashenfelter]

NTS, great shots of those fake labels, they appear to be foil also, correct? Until now I did not know that they were for sure being produced.

(Otherwise, the Vietnamese always wore the beret french style, and their advisors did the same?) To use the term (always) concerning Vietnam used berets may not be the best approach to take, there are exceptions to every belief!
This particular subject can get your brain to spinning quite rapidly so I am not going to spend much time with it. NTS, there is no problem with your
train of thought about ARVN used their rules and US used their own guidelines. This approach will be right most of the time, but not always. Many US advisors when attached to ARVN units adopted the ARVN beret flashes to show their affiliation. They sometimes wore these flashes in the US tradition or at other times adopted the VN method of wearing the flashes. At other times they retained the US flashes as they were and at others they wore the US flashes in the ARVN tradition. Confused yet? Here is a shot of 2 US ranger berets with the 75th flash both Nam made.

[Jeff Ashenfelter]

The beret on the left retains the flash on the left eye as per US tradition. The beret on the right retains the flash on the right eye as per ARVN tradition. More than likely this was an advisors beret whom the individual decided to retain his US flash!
The photo below shows 2 junk force berets, one on the left is for a Junk Force Officer with the gold badge on the left. This is common for officers, while it seems most EM's wore it in the usual VN tradition of wearing it on the right side. The beret on the left is one that I showed in an earlier thread of a US advisor officer who is actually wearing an EM's badge on the right side. US naval sailors traditionally wore their flashes on the right side anyway, but now not like the ARVN officers beret who has it on the left.