Post your Military Buckles - with or without the belt

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Nice ones, guys. Here’s a sort of “plain Jane” buckle, but look at the cruise length … 5 years!

 

 

I wonder if he was aboard for the whole cruise.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

This is a “shorttimer’s buckle” from the mid-1960’s. When you got “short” (when your enlistment was almost over) you would wear a buckle like this (or even a plain brass one) that you never shined:

 

[kfields]

Here's a strange one. Not sure what it's supposed to represent.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

You know, kfields, that could be a shorttimer’s buckle.

[kfields]

1 hour ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

You know, kfields, that could be a shorttimer’s buckle.

Ha! Never thought of that possibility!

[kfields]

Here's another one. Thanks to 'tredhed2' for identifying the DUI for me - 112th Quartermaster Regiment. The buckle came attached to the belt ink stamped 1944.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Another nice one, Kfields! Here’s a Philippines-made buckle:

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

This is a ‘bringback’ buckle I had made up in Vietnam, with my unit (1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry, 1st Infantry Division) featured :

 

 

(I know this isn’t correctly designed according to the Army’s Institute for Heraldry, but still like it!)

[jmd62]

25 minutes ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

This is a ‘bringback’ buckle I had made up in Vietnam, with my unit (1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry, 1st Infantry Division) featured :

 

 

(I know this isn’t correctly designed according to the Army’s Institute for Heraldry, but still like it!)

 

Awesome buckle, especially since it's of the unit you fought with. Thanks for sharing Cobra 6! 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks, jmd62! I wore it on R&R to both Hawaii and to Singapore. How did I get two R&R’s? Well, I took my first one to Hawaii after being in a line infantry unit and in-country for ~3 months. Figured I should take it “just in case” I didn’t get a chance to do so later. My wife flew out to meet me. We had a great time … naturally!

 

When I got out of the field and into a Military Assistance Command-Vietnam (MACV) team, as I was in-processing the clerk said something like “When do you plan to go on R&R?” I knew at that point that someone at my old unit did me a favor. So, I told him I would get back with him in a week or so. Picked Singapore and had a great time there as well!

 

(When I was still in my line infantry unit I also had a 7-day leave to Okinawa [where I also wore that buckle] because I had 4 wisdom teeth removed all at once and couldn’t go back into the field. After flopping around in misery for several days (I still, +50 years later, have unhappy memories of laying on a cot in a sweltering hooch, swilling tepid canteen water while gobbling Percodan.) someone suggested I take leave, go down to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, and sign up for free “space available” travel. The downside of this was that the destination was pretty much an unknown until my name came to the top of the list and was told that there was space on a flight to Okinawa. So, off I went in the back of an empty bomber. When I got to Okinawa, to my surprise, it was Winter. So my first immediate purchases were a hat, gloves, and a thick sweater! OK, enough “war story” stuff for one day!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

If you’re wearing this buckle you’re probably going to get some extra attention from the MP’s: 

 

[jmd62]

1 hour ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

If you’re wearing this buckle you’re probably going to get some extra attention from the MP’s: 

 

 

Right?! :D 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

US Naval Academy buckle:

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Gosh, this poor guy, Seaman Seamans:

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Dental Tech on the USS Galveston: 

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Here’s a shorttimer’s buckle with “Crazy Joe” engraved in Korean:

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Navy Beach Jumper Unit 1

 

[jmd62]

Very nice Cobra 6!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks, jmd62. Here’s another:

 

[rd12]

Here's a Korean War era "Wolfhounds" buckle

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Nice one, rd12. That musket on the CIB almost looks like a Japanese-made one. And having rounds on either side of the buckle is something I also see on many WWI- and WWII-era buckles. Good score!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

[easterneagle87]

On 5/9/2023 at 7:10 AM, Cobra 6 Actual said:

 

Nice know where this one landed. 😁