Third Herd

I was in the Air Force during part of the Vietnam War and the Air Force used the term "COMM". The 1st Mobile Comm was based in the P.I., but sent people to Vietnam for 89-days at a time. That way they were not in the count on the news.

It could be a badge to grant access to a restricted area.

There were at least two F-105's with a target for the boom operator. I saw a photo a boomer took of one when he got his photos out of the BX in 1969. The F-105 the Strategic Air and Space Museum has on a pylon along I-80 east of the museum was painted like that but left off when restored to Vietnam era paint scheme.

I haven't been to A & M Surplus since they put in the museum. I might have to go check it out. I bought stuff from there and their Dad, Val, at Gun Shows for years. The Nebraska National Guard Museum is now open and has a Facebook page, it is in the old National Guard Armory. The University of Nebraska kicked it out of the State Arsenal when it took over the State Fair Grounds kicking that to Grand Island. At least the new museum location has more room, it was a little cramped in the old Arsenal Building. The Airborne Scooter was made by Cushman and last year the University of Nebraska tore down the Cushman Factory, haven't built anything, just turned into an open space.

I meant to say until the switch to the blue uniform.

It is post 1957 to when the Army switched to a blue uniform.

I don't remember seeing the patch when I was in Korea 1970/1971. I was there once, but remember the place. I worked on the ROKAF Peace Fortune microwave system and lugging couple heavy boxes of test equipment to the H-19 I dislocated my left shoulder. As soon as I got there the Medic took me to the NCO Club and after several shots popped it back in place. One day riding from the Korean site back to the main part two M1 Carbines came flying over the tailgate of the Deuce and a half and two ROK's climbed in to the moving truck. The Mess Hall had the best BBQ ribs, you got a plate of ribs and a plate for the fries. Most of the remote sites I went to had at most a dozen people and Mangil-san seemed like a small base.

The Air Force Shade 509 uniform was so disliked, that Airmen would buy Army fatigues. It took me awhile to find a matching hat and pants. There is a Shade 509 Field Jacket with the "Horse Shoe" Collar like the later OG 107 Field Jacket which was issued into the late 1960's.

I figure that the white canteens are just like the black, tan, and pink ones. Somebody has a mold and makes them in different colors, they can sell more that way. The white one I bought is marked US 1976 above R&D in a diamond. The tan and black ones US 1980 over H.I.P.

In a few days I will have my 66 birthday, I got a US Navy Mark-1 for my sixth birthday. I still have it and it is still in great shape since I took care of it. I already had a helmet and field gear, but I remember getting the training rifle.

I can't remember my first, I must have been about four years old. I had several so friends could come over and play Army. I bought one of those olive drab construction helmets when I was seven, hard to play Army with the WWI shell a neighbor had given me. The local surplus store had a pile of M1's that had to be hundreds of helmets in the mid-1950's. I wish I had a time machine to dig through them.

22nd Chemical Battalion.

It could be ab older Civil Air Patrol ribbon, some had airplanes on them.

For the younger people reading this, the early model airplanes were scaled to fit a certain size box, not standard scales. I'm old enough to have "helped" Dad build the solid wood model planes for me. The shapes were there you had to do final sanding, glue them together, and paint them. Monogram had it's own Rocket Scientist named Willy Ley design their space models. They had a Space Shuttle with a manned first stage which landed like an airplane after launch. By the time I was in Junior High kits came in 1/72 scale with the local discount store selling Airfix and Revell fighters for $0.39 and the four-engine kits for $1.77. The Sporting Goods department of that store had some surplus, can you picture a High School kid being sold bayonets now days. P14 Enfield and US Model 1917 were $5.00.

I remember that this model came out around when the 1951 movie Frogmen came out on TV. I bugged my Dad to buy it for me and since I had just gotten a little sister, I didn't get it. It is funny what a 9-year old remembers.