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Mike force Scarfs


kammo-man
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Thanks to all for sharing info on this amazing subject so far, I know there are alot of photo guys out there so my next question is .........

Who has pix of the scarfs being worn in the field , base camps or just being worn???

thanks

Owen .

Kammo man.

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Thanks to all for sharing info on this amazing subject so far, I know there are alot of photo guys out there so my next question is .........

Who has pix of the scarfs being worn in the field , base camps or just being worn???

thanks

Owen .

Kammo man.

AAAHAHHAHA this is the question Owen cheers J

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Owen,

 

pulled this up from a dark corner of my PC.

 

i think this photo belongs to Paul.

 

A repost is allowed i am sure though...

 

:)

 

 

 

Patrick.

post-109-1219442203.jpg

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Ok...i am cheating again.

 

None of the US troops are wearing one. If you look at the red beret wearing man in the background, another scarf can be seen.

 

Thats it for me tonight, i am about to fall asleep at the keyboard.

post-109-1219447380.jpg

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P

what can I say you are a bottomless pit of info .

It is also good to share this info with people on this site who are students of US militaria and have never heard of this important piece of Ameriaian Military history.

Thanks for the shots , I have NEVER seen these before .

Owen

Kammo man

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I am positive I have seen a photo of a US Army Captain wearing one of these scarves. It was black in color, and he was wearing glasses with rather large lenses. It looked like it was taken at an award ceremony. But I will be darned if I can find it right now.

 

For those who own Ian Sutherland's book on the Special Forces, he has several photos of indigenous forces wearing these, as well as some additional examples of the scarves themselves.

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Perfect image posted above.

 

This is not of the same quality at all as that one, but it helps with Owens tigerstripe fetish.

post-109-1219487559.jpg

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thefallenbuddha
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.

 

Thank you very much for adding the anecdote!

I think these stories are always important to have when talking about an item.

It makes the items come more to life, and certainly makes them of greater interest!

Thank you!

 

 

I wonder how much he actually got for the scarf at that time!?

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I am positive I have seen a photo of a US Army Captain wearing one of these scarves. It was black in color, and he was wearing glasses with rather large lenses. It looked like it was taken at an award ceremony. But I will be darned if I can find it right now.

 

For those who own Ian Sutherland's book on the Special Forces, he has several photos of indigenous forces wearing these, as well as some additional examples of the scarves themselves.

 

Well I wasn't completely wrong, but I wasn't completely right either.

 

The attached photo appears in the book Vietnam Airborne by Gordon Rottman, part of the Osprey Elite Series, published 1990. It was originally credited to Green Beret Magazine.

 

The caption reads "LLDB and USSF II Corps MIKE Force commanders display the banner presented to them on the drop zone during the Bu Prang jump, 5 October 1967."

 

The American officer appears to be a Lt. Colonel, and the scarf is a light color, not black. It looks like it is tied in a not and rolled, probably to keep from getting fouled during the jump. Note the radio operator in the background with his scarf also showing.

 

This is an example of how inexpensive references can have some very interesting items in them.

 

You can find this on Amazon.com for as low as $10.49.

Scarf.JPG

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Two further good images of the scarf in wear by US NCOs and Chinese Nungs of 3rd Mike Force can be seen in another Opsrey

Publication.

 

Again by Mr. Rottman, it is " US Army Special Forces 1952-84" and is number 4 in the "Elite" series.

 

 

 

Patrick.

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Hello all,

 

as promised earlier in the thread, i have managed to photograph another example of these interesting items.

 

So to keep Owen entertained in his hotel room...although i am sure he is quite capable of it himself, here are a few additional images.

post-109-1219688719.jpg

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And to close....

 

Owen/Andre, do yours exhibit the "lazy" stitching also?

 

 

Patrick.

 

PS. Incidentally, i have another example of a scarf that is ARVN ranger related and bears a very strong similarity to the LLDB/CIDG scarf posted by Bob, naturally the colours differ though.

post-109-1219689256.jpg

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The attached photo appears in the book Vietnam Airborne by Gordon Rottman, part of the Osprey Elite Series, published 1990. It was originally credited to Green Beret Magazine.

 

The caption reads "LLDB and USSF II Corps MIKE Force commanders display the banner presented to them on the drop zone during the Bu Prang jump, 5 October 1967."

 

The American officer appears to be a Lt. Colonel, and the scarf is a light color, not black. It looks like it is tied in a not and rolled, probably to keep from getting fouled during the jump. Note the radio operator in the background with his scarf also showing.

 

I've come across this pic also, with the officer named as Lt. Col. Ludwig (Lou) Faistenhammer

 

BTW, Patrick's pic (Post #31) - the person in the foreground looks like 'Chargin' Charlie' Beckwith

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Hi all

Nice pix flo ,

Patrick ,

I will hit my war room over the weekend and pull my scarf for some closeups of the stitching .

From memory I think the stitching is pretty good and not sloppy .

It is intresting to note that my scarf is manufactured in a different way from yours .

Well at least we know there are several variations of the basic red white and blue .

I have also seen a green and blue MF scarf , has anybody got one of these .

all the best

o

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