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Veterans: Does your uniform still hang in your closet?


gwb123
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In our bedroom, on our dresser is my wife's and my wedding photo, in which I proudly wore my dress blues, circa 1983.

 

That uniform still hangs in my wardrobe, along with a set of dress greens. Both are still badged up and ready to go.

 

I still have two sets of BDU's folded in my closet, along with a set of OG-107's and khakis. In another closet I still have two M65 field jackets with liners, and a Baumholder jacket.

 

I have been away from the Army for 25 years. I don't think they will be calling me back anytime soon.

 

None of these are collectible or historic. But they were mine.

 

Why the heck am I keeping these at the ready? Anybody else do this?

 

***********************************

 

Just to spice up the story, I have a recurring dream where the Army DID call me back. Not for front line duty, but in a support role, like the Service Commands during WWII. I am in a mad rush to get down to the local clothing sales store with a set of orders trying to put a modern uniform together. And of course, I am completely confused as to what goes with what!

 

The simpler variation of this dream is I am still back on Active Duty. I have woken from a dead sleep and I am looking for my boots before heading down to the company area. When I wake, I have to sit there for a few minutes to realize it is three decades later and all I really have to do is get to my Kia and get to my office.

 

Not exactly post traumatic stress disorder, but it still throws me every time it happens. Anybody else?

 

 

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collectsmedals

My 1977 issued Navy double breasted jacket, pants and combination cap is still in my closet, as are my 1982 crackerjacks and dixie cup hat.

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I still have a set of BDUs, ACUs, Class A, and Blues all hanging in my closet. The BDUs still have PFC rank and starched from when was first in. I plan to shadow box them someday, so my kids can get money out of them :D I really just can't bring myself to putting them in a box knowing they might get wrinkled. As for ready to go, not without some extensive tailoring :blink:

 

I have a Battalion Ball photo in our living room. It is fun to think back and be proud of the uniform.

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m1ashooter

Nope much to my regret. I was so pissed that I got Riffed out in 93 that I threw my service dress and mess dress in the dumpster.

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Rakkasan187

I wore my dress blues last Sunday for Memorial Day. They were a little tight but considering I retired 10 years ago, not too bad. I have my blues, dress greens and all of my BDU's, Jungle Fatigues, Choc. Chip and DCUs'. Each of my uniforms has the unit patch that I wore while with that unit. I still have my BDU's from basic training and all of my other clothing.

 

I usually put my uniforms on mannequins for Veteran's Day or other displays.

 

Leigh

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Blues, Greens, etc. are in my seabag located in the attic - right where I put it 30 years ago - maybe it will be a time capsule!

 

Bill

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Dress Blues are in the footlocker, stripped the greens and tossed them, wife gave my BDU's to neighbor kid who was in the guard.

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SMCS dress blues in the closet. Hat is trashed. SMCS dinner dress blues are in the closet and wore them last November for formal night on a cruise. Lots of old Sailors and other military came up to me wishing they still had their stuff. Also still have a set of Khakis. I also have a set of my Melton jumper dress blues, my dad's Hong Kong tailor made jumper dress blues, his regulation Melton blues and an undress blue jumper. ALL of my sons, uniforms, blues, whites, utilities, NWUs and NSUs. Nothing fantastic or super collectible, but they are family. My sister, also active duty SCPO and her husband, active duty MCPOS have my dad's medals and ribbons. He had them embroidered onto patches of background fabric to match his uniforms, one set for blues and one set for whites.

 

And yes, still wake up thinking I need to get to the ship, honestly, still wish I had a ship to go to. When I retired, I was ready to go. I gave away most of my uniforms to the other CPOs on my last ship. What no one wanted I tossed, along with plaques and other assorted memorabilia which I had no interest in. And, yes, my daughter chewed my butt for it as she said she earned that stuff as much as I did and was very proud of it. Feel bad about that now.

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I retired in 2006 after 27 years, all my uniforms are hanging in my closet exactly where they were on my retirement date.

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The day I got done with sea duty, all my coveralls went in the trash (I wasn't really a happy camper at the time...) I really wish I had kept them as they would have been handy for working on my house! :D

 

I did keep the rest of my uniforms, simply because I spent so much money having them tailored in Hong Kong and Japan (yes, I am a collector of uniforms, so why not have my OWN made overseas???) that I couldn't bear to get rid of them. I sealed them in the big ziploc bags and then sealed them in a box...they resided in storage for almost two years but on Friday they got moved into my new garage (not that I have any plans for them...just trying not to have to pay storage unit fees anymore!) All my medals and insignia went into a separate bag and are in my safe, along with those of my father in law (a 33-year Navy vet) and my wife, also a Navy vet.

 

Maybe our kids will appreciate them at some point...

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RustyCanteen

I really wish I had kept them as they would have been handy for working on my house! :D

 

 

Yeah, instead of your forum t-shirt. :o

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Yeah, instead of your forum t-shirt. :o

LOL! Yep, it would have saved my beloved t-shirt for certain...sigh...

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SergeantMajorGray

 

 

None of these are collectible or historic. But they were mine.

 

 

 

 

 

Personally if I had a uniform I wore I would display it in my collection. Also there are a lot of collectors that like the cold war and modern uniforms to them and me they are collectable and historic as well.

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Personally if I had a uniform I wore I would display it in my collection. Also there are a lot of collectors that like the cold war and modern uniforms to them and me they are collectable and historic as well.

I think some are in the same boat as me when I say:

 

1. I did nothing of note while in the military...no one is going to write about the operations I participated in (save for perhaps: "they were a waste of time and taxpayer money...") :D

 

2. In 13 years, I had a lot of good memories but a lot of bad ones as well. Leaving the service was very freeing and personally I wouldn't want to be reminded of what I did every time I looked at my collection (which is supposed to bring me some happiness and/or personal fulfillment...looking at my own stuff makes me want to forget a lot of things...time away from the family, missing my youngest daughter's birth, and a lot of a-holes that I worked for...)

 

Just my personal opinion and why they are in a box in the garage...

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I have to agree with Dave. When I left, I was "Ready to go" meaning I was totally done with the Navy. I had a new life set up, moved to a different state for a job and had no interest in most of what I had done. I had some really good memories of some really great Sailors, but I was done and fed up with what was going on with my beloved Navy. Yeah, 15 years down the road, I miss it, but what I miss is the guys that I went to sea with who made things good. There were ships I served on for years that I have no desire to be in contact with any one who I served with. I loved the "Navy", and being a part of the Navy and part of a ships crew. But there were just too many A-Holes who were too concerned with their personal careers that made things just too hard. Like Dave, nothing I did was of any consequence or of any value to any one but me and a few good men who went on to be very successful and have contacted mr to say thank you. That means so much more than any medal or uniforms. But, yeah, they are cool.

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I had my own reasons for leaving the Army when I did.

 

But somehow there was a part of me that always felt I should keep those uniforms handy.

 

Something just gets ingrained in you after awhile, I suppose.

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Oh yeah, I have been very disenchanted with civilian life and would go back in a Hong Kong Hartbeat! Just at the time........

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Yup, the stuff I wore right up to my retirement still hangs in the closet. 30 years of service and you tend to accumulate a lot of gear! I sold a duffel bag full of old uniforms to an Army Navy Store, but I still have a flight bag, a duffel bag, two rucks, and a foot locker full of stuff. The only thing I wish I still had is a set of khaki's, at some point they just disappeared.

 

Joe

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Manchu Warrior

I have my Class A uniform along with three sets of pressed BDU's, one with an SSI of each division I was in, hanging in the living room closet. I also still have a locked duffel bag in the basement. The bag has had a lock on it since I out processed at Ft Dix and I have no idea what became of the key.

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In our bedroom, on our dresser is my wife's and my wedding photo, in which I proudly wore my dress blues, circa 1983.

 

That uniform still hangs in my wardrobe, along with a set of dress greens. Both are still badged up and ready to go.

 

I still have two sets of BDU's folded in my closet, along with a set of OG-107's and khakis. In another closet I still have two M65 field jackets with liners, and a Baumholder jacket.

 

I have been away from the Army for 25 years. I don't think they will be calling me back anytime soon.

 

None of these are collectible or historic. But they were mine.

 

Why the heck am I keeping these at the ready? Anybody else do this?

 

***********************************

 

Just to spice up the story, I have a recurring dream where the Army DID call me back. Not for front line duty, but in a support role, like the Service Commands during WWII. I am in a mad rush to get down to the local clothing sales store with a set of orders trying to put a modern uniform together. And of course, I am completely confused as to what goes with what!

 

The simpler variation of this dream is I am still back on Active Duty. I have woken from a dead sleep and I am looking for my boots before heading down to the company area. When I wake, I have to sit there for a few minutes to realize it is three decades later and all I really have to do is get to my Kia and get to my office.

 

Not exactly post traumatic stress disorder, but it still throws me every time it happens. Anybody else?

 

 

Gil, I left the Army in 1999. In 2006, I tried to get called back for Operation Iraqi Freedom, put a packet in and said that I would be willing to be deployed. I got a thanks but no thanks reply back from Human Resources Command. I guess they had plenty of Infantry officers willing to volunteer!

 

My jungle uniform and BDUs are rolled up and stuck in a plastic container. My Class A's and Blues are hanging in the back of the closet.

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BelligerentBlue

Well, I got out 4 years ago. That being said, I have SOOO much stuff to include all my uniforms, paperwork from deployment of our AO, back to even my bootcamp "knowledge" booklet and lots more. Needless to say, when Iraq becomes as old as WWII, collectors and dealers will probably be fighting over my stuff.

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bootsandbooks

 

 

Why the heck am I keeping these at the ready? Anybody else do this?

 

 

Just to spice up the story, I have a recurring dream where the Army DID call me back. Not for front line duty, but in a support role, like the Service Commands during WWII. I am in a mad rush to get down to the local clothing sales store with a set of orders trying to put a modern uniform together. And of course, I am completely confused as to what goes with what!

 

The simpler variation of this dream is I am still back on Active Duty. I have woken from a dead sleep and I am looking for my boots before heading down to the company area. When I wake, I have to sit there for a few minutes to realize it is three decades later and all I really have to do is get to my Kia and get to my office.

 

Not exactly post traumatic stress disorder, but it still throws me every time it happens. Anybody else?

 

=========

 

Did not save anything except some insignia after my discharge in 1970. My younger brother got my jungle boots, field jacket and boonie hat and those are long gone. In the past 5-10 years I have put together fairly complete uniforms representing my service and that of my father 1938-1946, and have worn both on a couple of special occasions.

 

Now about those dreams; mine are somewhat similar and quite frequent. Some are do-overs and I relive actual events, hoping for a better outcome I guess, while others involve being called back up in current time. The central thread in both, like yours, is that I don't have all my gear ready to go, but tends to be tactical rather than the clothing.

 

I did not stay in the Reserves after my active duty discharge but did attend a few Reserve School courses. In mid 1989 I received a packet from DA requesting information on my current status. I filled out the forms and did not hear anything more but later suspected it might have had something to do with Operation Just Cause. I had spent two years in Panama prior to Vietnam in the S-3 and G-3 reviewing and exercising the various contingency plans we had for every country in Central and South America.

 

A few I had served with in Panama and Vietnam were still around for the first Gulf War and seeing them in newscasts made me a little sorry I could not be with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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