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1968 Dated M79 Grenadier Vest


439th Signal Battalion
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439th Signal Battalion

I went to a local gun show today and really wasn't expecting to find anything in my area of interest of collecting (Vietnam.)

 

However, towards the very end of the arena hanging on a rack, I saw this grenadier vest. Having seen hundreds of mid-1970 dated and newer ones, the first thing I noticed about this one was the rust brown strap on the back, which I immediately thought looked like some of the straps on a Lightweight/Tropical Rucksack.

 

I then noticed the plastic snaps and knew I had a good find. Looking inside, the date and nomenclature is nice and crisp, just like the vest, dated 1968. The size is Large.

 

(Just noticed the "pin" beside Dated in the topic title; don't know what happened there. Title should read, "1968 Dated M79 Grenadier Vest").

 

post-4009-0-28274100-1420940543.jpg

post-4009-0-51578400-1420940563.jpg

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That's a really cool find. Whenever I've seen those in the past, I thought they were heavily used/ washed-out looking. Didn't realize they were just made that way...gonna have to look closer next time.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Believe it or not, this is what my first platoon originally issued us 203 gunners when we stood up in 2005. We didn't have our shipment of new gear yet, and, being a new unit, our supply warehouse had been closed off for decades. They found crates of Vietnam surplus. These, M14 mag pouches, steel pot helmets, etc. Most got auctioned off to Saigon Sam's at DRMO since it was unserviceable, but somehow these found it to us. Thankfully, we got our molle pouches before deploying!

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