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Mike force Scarfs


kammo-man
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Hi Guys

I was looking through old posts and could not find any on the subject on Mike Force Scarfs .

I only have one in my collection and was wondering if you lot had any intrest or imput on this subject?

My scarf is made from 100% cotton and is unusual in that the construction of the various panels have both selvedge and sewn ends incroperated into the manufacture.

Also there is a printed manufacrures name on one side of the white panel which I am sure is only the producer of the fabric .

I know these scarfs come in many combos and sometimes are embroidered .

Anyone want to show theirs?

All the best and lets share some info on these ...

Ps

Lets keep the length and width secret for obvious reasons .

owen ...

post-2009-1219272048.jpg

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nguoi tien su

Owen,

Nice french flag you have there ! Hahaha !

Just jalous... I still don't have that kind of rarety... crying.gif

 

NTS

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post-532-1219302916.jpg

 

Sorta Mike Force related....I used to own this but it ended up in part of a trade for a SEAL float coat, this is the second one I've had.

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Hi Owen,

 

a very interesting topic on a little studied item.

 

Quite a few of these seem to have been found from a cache this year and have all vanished into collections. I have seen a very nice unit embroidered one also. Give me a few days and i see if i can add another example to the thread.

 

Spike...that is an incredible item.

 

 

Thanks for posting.

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Hi all ,

NTS did you not know MF scarfs are the new Olympic French Flag????

spike that scarf is fantastic .

P get to work .

thanks .

owen

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nguoi tien su
MF scarfs are the new Olympic French Flag????

 

It might make better french athletes!

 

Spike, the scarf you show is awesome...

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vintageproductions

This black and white scarf and the black and gold one posted below are from the same vet. In fact they came from the same vet as Spike's KKK scarf. If you guys remember the Beo Gam / leopard camo patrol cap I posted awhile back, these were all from that same person.

 

bwmf.JPG.

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vintageproductions

This is another one we have. This scarf belonged to Capt Fitzgerald who was at Camp A-421 and was worn by the recon element of the CIDG's & LLDB's. Worn around 1970-1971.

 

lldbadv.JPG

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vintageproductions

This is my all time favorite scarf I have ever owned. I originally purchased this in the late 1980's. It was my pride and joy. As we all know things can happen and I had to sell part of my collection in the mid 1990's. This was the only piece I have ever regretted selling. The collector whom I sold it to, passed away around 2001. I was able to buy it back, and it will not leave my collection again.

One neat thing is we have this posted on our website under the collection area. The original owner contacted us and told us who he was, what he did, why he sold it etc.. It was neat to add the personal history to it.

 

.a421.JPG

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How can i find more words to describe the truely unique such as these?

 

I can't in short.

 

I am just going to enjoy the photos of them again.

 

Remarkable items!

 

Thanks for posting.

 

 

Patrick.

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I am certainly not trying to hijack this thread, but I thought I'd post a picture of a scarf from my collection. This one is not Vietnam era, but rather 1980's era from El Salvador. This is scarf from the Cacahuatique Brigade from the central part of El Salvador (Morozan Deptartment). This patch and scarf came back from a SF advisor who was down there and did some training. If you notice this scarf is very similar to the Mike Force scarves of the Vietnam era. I am assuming that maybe the USSF advisors took this idea of a multi-colored scarf from experiences they had in Vietnam. If I am not mistaken, the Cacahuatique were a type of Rapid Response force, similar to what the Mike Forces were in Vietnam.

 

From what I understand, the Cacahuatique used a different color every day to keep the FMLN inurgents from being able to infiltrate the unit. The FMLN in that area had spies inside the camp or barracks and information would be relayed back the insurgents concerning operations, raids, troop movements, etc. They used these scarves to try and defeat the FMLN. The CO would decide on the color (red, yellow, or black).

 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed looking at the pics of a direct lineal descendent of the Mike Force scarves of Vietnam.

aforum_006.jpg

aforum_007.jpg

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Here is a picture of the Cacahuatique Brigade patch. Notice that the scarf uses the red, yellow, and black found on the patch.

aforum_008.jpg

aforum_009.jpg

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vintageproductions

Arch, that scarf is definately cool. You can really see the Mike Force influence on the design.

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vintageproductions

All the Vietnam scarves shown in this thread were worn by US Special Forces advisors in Vietnam. The different colors were used to designate different units. Most of the teams were made up of ARVN's, CIDG / Montangnards and Ethnic Cambodians. A lot of the indig. troops wore similar uniforms to the VC / NVA and these scarves were worn as id pieces, so they weren't shot by their own men. The only one I can vouch for that wasn't worn in field is my A-421 Ba-Xoi. It was only worn for ceremonial purposes. This is direct from the vet it belonged to as it was too heavy for everyday wear. On the rarity level, these definately rank up there. The basic wear ones were made out of a thin cotton that would get destroyed from the wear and sweat.Not many survived.The ones that did survive, command premium prices.

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Thanks very much for answering my question - it's the reason why I love this forum...the amount of knowledge that's shared here is staggering. Thanks again!

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thefallenbuddha
This is my all time favorite scarf I have ever owned. I originally purchased this in the late 1980's. It was my pride and joy. As we all know things can happen and I had to sell part of my collection in the mid 1990's. This was the only piece I have ever regretted selling. The collector whom I sold it to, passed away around 2001. I was able to buy it back, and it will not leave my collection again.

One neat thing is we have this posted on our website under the collection area. The original owner contacted us and told us who he was, what he did, why he sold it etc.. It was neat to add the personal history to it.

 

.post-492-1219341064.jpg

 

Great thread, and of course amazing scarfs!

 

If it's possible to share, why did he originally sell the scarf? Did he sell anything else at the same time?

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vintageproductions

According to him. It was in the early 80's and he was still living in Fayetteville. He was going to college and needed some extra money so he took a few pieces into one of the militray shops there and sold it.

In fact, it took a bit to find but here is a copy of his email to me:

 

The Bx-Xoai scarves are from 1968...the one you have was mine.

Hale James A SFC 05/13/68 05/04/69 LT WPNS. The black scarves were meant to be commemorative, rather than functional.

Each member of the team that was assigned at that time received one. By 1968, the 5th Special Forces was not deploying entire teams, but replacing individuals when needed. I say that because I was trying to remember who was with the team when the scarves were given out: long time ago, and I just don't remember. I sold the scarf to a collector in Fayetteville, NC in the early 1980's, after I was retired and going to school. I don't believe that there was another Jim on the team at that time. The actual scarf worn on operations was mostly red and white, and smaller. Also lighter, cooler and locally made. The purpose of the operational scarf was that American Special Forces could be spotted from the air while on patrol. The operational scarf for Ba Xoai has the letters KKK, which stands for Khmer Kampuchea Kraom [KKK] people [indigenous Cambodians from southern Vietnam]. There are several websites that deal with past and current issues of the Khmer Kampuchea Kraom. Jim.

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