CHASEUSA11B Posted July 1, 2015 Share #1 Posted July 1, 2015 Hello everyone, Posting another part of my collection that I thought some might enjoy. This is a nice class a jacket, jungle jacket and pants named to a Sp5 Thompson with the 173rd AB, 319th artillery. The class a coat has two hash marks on the right sleeve, a 173rd SSI, sp5 rank, jim wings, artillery collar discs, and an awesome theatre made ribbon bar with the date 67-68. The fatigues are in like new condition and must have been a coming home set or just stowed away and rarely worn. They have the 173rd patch on both sleeves, what appears to be theatre made name and is army tapes, and no other insignia. All the pieces are very small so this must have been a diminutive cannon cocker. Unfortunately the name is very common so I haven't had any luck with research. Thanks for looking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASEUSA11B Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share #2 Posted July 1, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASEUSA11B Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted July 1, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchtrader864 Posted July 4, 2015 Share #4 Posted July 4, 2015 Not to rock the boat but on the class A the 173rd patch should be on the right shoulder . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASEUSA11B Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share #5 Posted July 4, 2015 Thanks for the info. I've seen uniforms from vietnam both ways, with just an SSI on the left or just on the right. I have another 173rd 319th coat with a single SSI on the left which came straight from the vets daughter and had photo confirmation. That being said, the patches on the fatigues should be subdued so it could be put together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted July 4, 2015 Share #6 Posted July 4, 2015 Not to rock the boat but on the class A the 173rd patch should be on the right shoulder . We've found that a great deal of vets who were immediately discharged (draftees usually, their 2 years being up) after serving in Vietnam generally wore their unit patch on the organizational side, those with more time to serve generally had the patch sewn on the right combat side at Ft Lewis or Oakland Army Terminal leaving the left side free for their new unit's patch whatever that might be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted July 4, 2015 Share #7 Posted July 4, 2015 A good friend was a L-Tee with the 319th and made the combat jump he was a Artillery FO/Liason officer.He wears only one patch. He showed me his jungle jacket once and he had a Jungle Expert patch on the right pocket.I asked when he went through the school? He just smiled and said he saw the patch,thought it was cool and figured his "school" was the trip to the beautiful jungles of South East Asia.He said no one ever said a word to him about it.He was a bit embarrassed to admit he bought it but the story was priceless.You have to know him to appreciate it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atb Posted July 4, 2015 Share #8 Posted July 4, 2015 Thanks for the info. I've seen uniforms from vietnam both ways, with just an SSI on the left or just on the right. I have another 173rd 319th coat with a single SSI on the left which came straight from the vets daughter and had photo confirmation. That being said, the patches on the fatigues should be subdued so it could be put together. Not necessarily. Full color SSI could be seen in use well into 1970. Subdued US ARMY and name tapes were in use before subdued SSI were fully implemented. As for the SSI on the left shoulder, as patches and CHASEUSA11B say, if a soldier came back to be discharged, the SSI could well be on the left and not the right. The right shoulder SSI was not a requirement. It was and still is up to the soldier whether or not he wishes to wear an earned right shoulder SSI. If the soldier was PCSing for reassignment, it used to be that the left shoulder SSI was not moved over to the right until he reported in to his new unit. Remember, the same unit SSI was not generally worn on both shoulders way back then. I know it did happen, so hold the remembrances and images, please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFMike Posted July 4, 2015 Share #9 Posted July 4, 2015 The wearout on colored insignia on fatigues was early 1969. About a year's notice was given. It was not unusual to see the same patch on both shoulders-we called them "sandwitches." Mostly officers did it. Some senior NCOs-that is fact, like it or not. All kinds of errors were made with the masses of GIs at the time. I came home on extension leave in 1969 and they gave us new greens. Mine had the patch on the right shoulder and I had to explain I was still in the unit and would be returning. They had a big room with a lot of gals pouring over sewing machines trying to keep up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atb Posted July 4, 2015 Share #10 Posted July 4, 2015 July 1970 was the final date all insignia had to be subdued Army-wide. I well remember the guidance given at Ft. MacArthur, CA and a PFC I knew grumbling about his right arm SSI going green and black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASEUSA11B Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share #11 Posted July 6, 2015 Soooooo.......what do you guys think of the uniform? Just kidding, thank you for the additional information gentlemen. Especially regarding the wear out dates of the color SSI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASEUSA11B Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share #12 Posted July 6, 2015 A good friend was a L-Tee with the 319th and made the combat jump he was a Artillery FO/Liason officer.He wears only one patch. He showed me his jungle jacket once and he had a Jungle Expert patch on the right pocket.I asked when he went through the school? He just smiled and said he saw the patch,thought it was cool and figured his "school" was the trip to the beautiful jungles of South East Asia.He said no one ever said a word to him about it.He was a bit embarrassed to admit he bought it but the story was priceless.You have to know him to appreciate it I have a family friend who was a medic in the 173rd in vietnam. He gave me a picture of him in country and he was wearing (I think) south Vietnamese wings on his pocket. I asked him what the qualifacations were to wear them. He said he didn't remember- he thinks he just put them on because everyone else had them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted July 6, 2015 Share #13 Posted July 6, 2015 Soooooo.......what do you guys think of the uniform? Just kidding, thank you for the additional information gentlemen. Especially regarding the wear out dates of the color SSI Me Likey........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted July 6, 2015 Share #14 Posted July 6, 2015 I have a family friend who was a medic in the 173rd in vietnam. He gave me a picture of him in country and he was wearing (I think) south Vietnamese wings on his pocket. I asked him what the qualifacations were to wear them. He said he didn't remember- he thinks he just put them on because everyone else had them Cool Story. I recall a local guy here when I was a little boy.He had these odd looking wings on his jungle fatiques he would wear around town when he got home.He movedaway and I never could find out where he went to or what happned to his stuff.When I got oder I seem to recallthey were like french jump wings so probably Cambode or Loation.He would also wear a tiger stripe cowboy hat with AIR ommando tab on t.Ha a ool poncho lie jackt I wold sehiin as wl ith ali kinds of patchs....there was Snoopy holdng a big machine gun,shouting "Damn You Charlie!!!!" and spraying a big red stream of bullets,(I was a big Snoopy fan as a kid and this really stood out to me)a big VC HUNTING CLUB patch,Southeast Asia war games with a peace sign,some odd patch with a american flag and another flag,On that said "Better living through Chemicals"(dont recall correctly)Then Nuke or Napalm on it.Was a long time ago. ws about 10 years old and it was 1973.I was to shy to talk to him very much.He probablywonderd why I was always staring at him if he had on one of his jackets He did buy me and a buddy a pop once at a little gas station we had and he was working there a little.Never told my mom we had a pop as a whole bottle would wind me up... i thought he walked on water.Really cool guy. Years later I asked the station owner about him.He said "Chic" was a gunner (he thought) in the Air Force.He said he came in and finnished his week out at the station and then got paid in cash and thats the last time he saw him.I always wondered why he had the "wings on".Just something he may have thought was cool...never will know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASEUSA11B Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share #15 Posted July 7, 2015 Me Likey........... Thanks Doyler! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASEUSA11B Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share #16 Posted July 7, 2015 http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/117054-small-173rd-airborne-paper-grouping/?fromsearch=1 Here's a picture of the family friend I mentioned earlier. Now that I look at the picture I can see that he is wearing subdued insignia while the soldier next to him has a full color insignia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted July 7, 2015 Share #17 Posted July 7, 2015 http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/117054-small-173rd-airborne-paper-grouping/?fromsearch=1 Here's a picture of the family friend I mentioned earlier. Now that I look at the picture I can see that he is wearing subdued insignia while the soldier next to him has a full color insignia. image.jpg And he's wearing standard Jump Boots too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASEUSA11B Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share #18 Posted July 7, 2015 And he's wearing standard Jump Boots too. Aren't they jungle boots? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted July 7, 2015 Share #19 Posted July 7, 2015 My buddie TD.Officer with 319th FA/173rd Ab His comments on the photo. TD has a great sense of "Irish" humor While reading the book “Dak To” America’s Sky Soldiers in South Vietnam’s Central Highlands I spotted a couple familiar names. I found an email address for one of them in the 173rd Airborne data base. Al McDevitt (a B co Platoon Leader) sent this picture of me in Vietnam as far as in know the only one in existence. I’m guessing it was probably near the Air Force base at Tuy Hoa late in October of 1967. Age 25 probably readying the Stars and Stripes 1. I don’t recall ever being this relaxed in Vietnam. 2. I can’t believe I wasn’t smoking a cigarette. 3. Where the hell was that other 500,000 troops that were supposed to be over there with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted July 8, 2015 Share #20 Posted July 8, 2015 Aren't they jungle boots? The one on the left with the full color insignia, note the height of the boot and the all around snugness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASEUSA11B Posted July 8, 2015 Author Share #21 Posted July 8, 2015 The one on the left with the full color insignia, note the height of the boot and the all around snugness. P_36632819_1891925.JPG Gotcha, sorry for the confusion. I thought you were referring to the one on the (viewers) right. That's my friend Bobby. Considering the one on the left has a white shirt, color insignia, Corcoran boots and is standing next to a doorway perhaps he was on some sort of desk or base camp duty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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