Time stories: US Servicemen´s lighters from Vietnam

[Viet]

If I die in Vietnam...

Vietnam Zippos: Die Feuerzeuge der US-Soldaten - SPIEGEL ONLINE

A nice story published on a German magazine telling stories of US soldiers fighting in Vietnam...
I hope the Mods do not delete the thread and ban me because of some offensive vulgar language.

This Zippos belonged to pionier David M. Tincher, who served from December 1967 to Februar 1969 in Vietnam.

 

[Viet]

This guy hates everybody:

Communism, Ho Tschi-minh, Charles de Gaulle, US university of Berkeley - a center of anti war movement, Joan Baez, RFK -Bobby Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, and "Topaz Trays" - a film of Alfred Hitchcock.

 

[Viet]

"Turtle-heads" were the names of new recruits. Nha Trang is a city in South Vietnam.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Cool lighters... i also have a zippo...

 

[Viet]

3 millions US soldiers served in Vietnam. 58,282 KIA, 303,644 WIA, 1,652 MIA, 779 POW
(KIA killed in action, WIA wounded in action, MIA missing in action, POW prisoners of war)

Vietnam survived, the homeland does not: This lighter belonged to Staff Sergeant Robert A. Felde, who was from 1965 to 1966 and 1968 to 1969 in Vietnam. He was stationed in Qui Nhon, a port city in the middle of Vietnam, where the U.S. military had one large logistics base. PBRs were the U.S. patrol boats (Patrol Boat, River)

Robert Felde was arrested in 1979 because he shot a policeman when he was drunk. He was the first who claimed later at the trial for its own defense that he had suffered severe psychological damage from his missions in Vietnam. In 1988, he was executed on an electric chair.

 

[Viet]

Nearly 12,000 helicopters served in Vietnam; close to 5,000 were destroyed.

"35 Kills": The owner of the lighter itself engraved the number of his victories on his Zippo. "Kills" here does not means the number of fatalities, but the hits on enemy military equipment such as ships, aircraft or tanks. Pilots mainly counted their kills and wore the number as a trophy.

This guy was a helicopter pilot from in 1969 to 1970 and again from 1972 to 1973 in Vietnam.

 

[Viet]

John F Kennedy and Vietnam

Kennedy received conflicting advice with regards to Vietnam. Charles De Gaulle (a former French general during WWII and President of Republic France) warned Kennedy that Vietnam and warfare in Vietnam would trap America in a “bottomless military and political swamp”.

This was based on the experience the French had at Dien Bien Phu, which left a sizeable psychological scar of French foreign policy for some years. However, Kennedy had more daily contact with ‘hawks’ in Washington DC who believed that American forces would be far better equipped and prepared for conflict in Vietnam than the French had been. They believed that just a small increase in US support for Diem would ensure success in Vietnam. The ‘hawks’ in particular were strong supporters in the ‘Domino Theory’.

“Pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend…to assure the survival and success of liberty ”.

source: lucys6.blogspot.com

...is a parody of a quote by President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy said in his inaugural address on 20 January 1961: "And so, my fellow Americans: do not ask what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country".

The US soldiers served in Vietnam must have felt this statement as cynical mockery.

 

[Viet]

On many Zippos were seen coarse humor and sarcasm. Death and destruction surrounded by young soldiers on their mission in Vietnam.

False sense of security: Sergeant Dennis E. Ulstad came on 5 January 1969 to Vietnam. His lighter is fairly plain with his name and service number and the Peanuts character Linus and his blanket: engraved (English security blanket).

This unfortunate guy was drowned on 26 January 1969 in Quang Nam. His body was recovered.

vacation on the beach of Vietnam

"Death From Above": The unofficial motto of the U.S. paratroopers in World War II, "Death from above", graces this Zippo. In Vietnam, the theme and a winged skull were famous in the airborne brigades - also on helmets and helicopters.

this guy was in the 173rd Airborne Brigade of the U.S. Army. On the cover: Combat Infantry Badge is displayed.

 

[Viet]

About 2,000 tanks were deployed to Vietnam. 600 were destroyed in battles.

 

[Viet]

Bob was stationed from 1965 to 1966 in Germany, from 1967 to 1968 in Vietnam.

The song "Born to Lose" by Ray Charles, was in the U.S. charts for 9 weeks in 1962 and was played very often in Vietnam.

 

[cnleio]

Good story, ths

 

[Viet]

1968 - An E-2A Hawkeye of Air Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 114 and an F-4 Phantom II of Fighter Squadron (VF) 213 pictured in flight off the coast of Vietnam. Robert L. Lawson Photograph Collection.

The U.S. Air Force flew 5.25 million sorties over Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, losing 2,251 aircrafts in total.

This Zippos belonged to David M. Tincher, who served from 1967 to 1969 in Vietnam.

 

[Viet]

Peace: The peace sign came originally from the British anti-nuclear movement of the late fifties and spread among other things, the U.S. civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King.

During the Vietnam War, it became a symbol of anti-war 68s. Also, the peace symbol was widespread on the lighters of American GIs. "Chief," the nickname of the owner of that copy was stationed from 1970 to 1971 in Vietnam.

 

[Viet]

Without hope: Thomas Plummer served in the 20th Pioneer unit of the U.S. Army. Plummer's unit was from 1967 to September 1971 in South Vietnam.

 

[third eye]

Very Well put :

We are the unwilling

Led by the unqualified

Doing the unnecessary

For the ungrateful.


So typical of a Soldiers life.....