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USAF Museum: Sawadee Thai/ Vietnam Party Suit Exhibit


gwb123
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When I recently visited the National Museum of the United States Air Force, I had one special exhibit that I wanted to see and document.

 

Many of the USAF patches that one finds for the Vietnam War were never worn on actual flight suits. Instead they were made for party suits, worn on informal social occasions.

 

If you collect USAF patches from this period, this is an exhibit you will want to one day see in person.

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One of the most colorful ones on display was for 1LT Dale Hill, who apparently did everything a FAC could possibly do in theater at the time.

 

Note the "brass balls" that have been awarded as some sort of decoration.

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Next group, led off by a husband and wife set. (One can only guess what the wives at home thought about receiving these in the mail):

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When I first went out to Dayton, I thought this was all they would have for patches and party suits. I was very wrong as there were another half dozen exhibits with similar items. I will post the photos of those as time allows.

 

One thing that struck me in looking at these is how these represented real life experiences of the men and women who wore them. I am not sure we will ever understand the full context of what they represent by just looking at them in a museum, on-line or at a show. It's pretty overwhelming when you begin to consider what all of these document.

 

I hope you've enjoyed looking at these, and for new collectors, I hope you are getting a better idea of what the real items looked like.

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Thank you for posting these. They are quite interesting. I have been to the Air Force Museum but that was more than 20 years ago. They have added many new ones since I was there. Great display of these historic party suits. Ben

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Great pictures. I posted some a few months back. I definitely will be heading back down there.I spent 4 hours there and still didn't see everything. I like see the 'brass balls' actually being worn, #4. Nice 31st USAF DISP patch.

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Thanks for posting these Gil.

 

Looking at them you realize, every party suit telling it's own story.

 

Best

Martin

 

That's why when you only have a patch or two, you do not have the full context of the previous owner. When seen together, you get a much bigger picture. That is why at one time I was collecting uniforms.

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Mel Vojvodich flew the CIA's A-12 Oxcart (1129th SAS) during the Black Shield missions over Vietnam and North Korea before joining the 388th TFW.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This was really outstanding to look at. Thanks for showing these photos and I'll be looking forward to your next installment of picture from the AF Museum.

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