History Man Posted May 4, 2014 Share #1 Posted May 4, 2014 Found this while out and about this morning. I had some questions with regards to the background of this one...I know it dates from the 1950's or early 1960's but would this have been a lighter presented to a ROKN Admiral by US forces or....? I ask as the Chinhae Naval Base was used by both USN and ROKN forces....it still is as well. It is made by ABC and marked Sunmy Inchon Korea. This lighter is presented to: RADM Kim Sang Kil....Commander...Chinhae Naval Base On the front it also has an Admiral's flag and what looks to be a South Korean Navy crest. Any help would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
History Man Posted May 4, 2014 Author Share #2 Posted May 4, 2014 When open Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin R Posted May 5, 2014 Share #3 Posted May 5, 2014 Phillip, I believe these were presented to US naval personnel by the South Korean Admiral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offdwall Posted May 8, 2014 Share #4 Posted May 8, 2014 I posted on another guy's question but just in case; I guess it was something that has been around a while, I have seen some from WWII, US & German, UK, French, etc...and the Koreans really liked the idea and expanded it. My dad's friend said that they were given as a token of repect to people held in high regard, in spite of rank, or for doing them a favor. The Asian culture back then was pretty formal, especially the South Koreans, and a gift was considered part of meeting someone. He said that they were proud of our US relationship and were very aware that the older Sgt's probably served in their war, so they always carried a few to give out. My dad said there was a special term for it, might be "Chit" but he can't remember what it was for sure. The guy I got mine from was a Master Sgt at the time and he got a bunch. They can be valuable, I've sold some of mine for $30-50 on ebay and I've seen them other places at $79-249. There are even 2 on ebay really high, one at $1999.00 and another at $1299.00 but no one has bid and I think they're dreaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottiques Posted May 12, 2014 Share #5 Posted May 12, 2014 Presentation lighters were popular during the VN era-- it was done in a similar manner to the "unit coins" that are presented today. A little harder to carry a bunch of these, I imagine! Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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