gunbarrel Posted November 3, 2008 Share #1 Posted November 3, 2008 The photo says that this fellow is a Marine. What does the Forum think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted November 3, 2008 Share #2 Posted November 3, 2008 GB, I see the other guy in the pic is Army in my opinion.The rank stripes and ball cap are definately Army. RON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted November 3, 2008 Share #3 Posted November 3, 2008 I would go with what the caption says as that is probably the info that was gathered at the time of the picture. Marines wore tigers too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hochiminhtrail Posted November 3, 2008 Share #4 Posted November 3, 2008 were there any marines in plei me?, it s just 40 km, south of pleiku, i never thought that it was their AO, but i could be wrong!! Normaly the camp was run by SF detachment A217 run by Captain Harold Moore, on the top of the picture the date shows october 30,1965, thats the date when the SF forces were in the camp along with about 350Cidg troops commanded by LDDB Captain. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kammo-man Posted November 3, 2008 Share #5 Posted November 3, 2008 Hi The tiger set this man is wearing is the early tiger shirt with the cental pleated pocket. This is an army cut shirt ,but with tigers I am sure there was a little cross over . But also if I was a marine I would want my units tigers not some yucky army type . o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copran Posted November 3, 2008 Share #6 Posted November 3, 2008 Hello, Probably a guy from the US SF, maybe wearing Tiger Stripe made the reporter confused with some Marines Advisor who wore Vietnamese made Tiger Stripe issued to the VNMC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted November 3, 2008 Share #7 Posted November 3, 2008 At the time, does anyone really think that these guys knew or gave a damn about what kinda tigers they were wearing or who was "supposed" to wear what or that anyone really noticed the difference between different tigers? Maybe the difference in colors....I think sometimes we as collectors make much more out what kinda uniforms are being worn than really needs to be. Do you think these guys went into supply and said, "Got any John Wayne dense?" "How about golds?" These guys wore what was issued/given to them. Maybe the Marines had their own but everybody else just wore what they got. I think because of that idiot Johnson and his egotistical "labeling" and "descriptions" of tiger stripes, everyone is going by that and deciding that Army guys should be wearing these tigers, Marines, that kinda tiger stripe......it's getting kinda goofy here. Guys wore what they got their hands on, be it Marines, Army, Air Force...whatever. I understand that Johnson's book is the only thing most of you guys have to go by but remember, all that stuff he says is HIS opinion, description, label and HIS only. It's just a guide, well researched, but NOT gospel, just one guys idea that everyone thinks was handed to Moses along with the 10 Commandments. At the end of the day, the guy in the pic, whoever he is, is just wearing tiger stripes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hochiminhtrail Posted November 4, 2008 Share #8 Posted November 4, 2008 I agree with Spike, the book is quite useful as a guide, but thats it. The description in his book makes it more confusing then anything else. Alex At the time, does anyone really think that these guys knew or gave a damn about what kinda tigers they were wearing or who was "supposed" to wear what or that anyone really noticed the difference between different tigers? Maybe the difference in colors....I think sometimes we as collectors make much more out what kinda uniforms are being worn than really needs to be. Do you think these guys went into supply and said, "Got any John Wayne dense?" "How about golds?" These guys wore what was issued/given to them. Maybe the Marines had their own but everybody else just wore what they got. I think because of that idiot Johnson and his egotistical "labeling" and "descriptions" of tiger stripes, everyone is going by that and deciding that Army guys should be wearing these tigers, Marines, that kinda tiger stripe......it's getting kinda goofy here. Guys wore what they got their hands on, be it Marines, Army, Air Force...whatever. I understand that Johnson's book is the only thing most of you guys have to go by but remember, all that stuff he says is HIS opinion, description, label and HIS only. It's just a guide, well researched, but NOT gospel, just one guys idea that everyone thinks was handed to Moses along with the 10 Commandments. At the end of the day, the guy in the pic, whoever he is, is just wearing tiger stripes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nguoi tien su Posted November 4, 2008 Share #9 Posted November 4, 2008 Spike is right about the myths created by collectors. But the real question was asked by HCMT : were there any marines in plei me?, it s just 40 km, south of pleiku. I find it also quite difficult to believe. Could this "marine" be part of an helicopter crew who came to pick up the war trophies? If not he must be part of the A Team? I think a yards bracelet can be made out on the right wrist? My two cents... NTS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 4, 2008 Share #10 Posted November 4, 2008 "I think a yards bracelet can be made out on the right wrist?" --- nguoi tien su --- Wow, you have an excellent sense of perception. I looked at that photo for over a minute without seeing that detail. My dad was a Green Beret serving at Bhu Prang near the Laos, Cambodia, Viet-Nam border; he trained indigenous Montagnards. I'm posting two photos of native bracelets he brought back in case other readers aren't familiar with what you were describing. (Sorry if it's slightly off-topic.) P.S. Yeah, you know what flag I'm posing them on. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 4, 2008 Share #11 Posted November 4, 2008 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted November 4, 2008 Share #12 Posted November 4, 2008 Having worked as a journalist for some 30 years I can tell you that things like that photo caption cannot be trusted: if it was a Signal Corps photo, yes - but this was a wire service photo taken by someone in Vietnam - the photo bureau in Saigon then sent it stateside where an editor picked photos for distribution and then wrote, or more likely assigned someone junior to him, to write a caption. The fact that the word "Marines" is in the lower-case shows whomever wrote that was not on top of things, militarily-speaking. The info in there about the Marine General came from a source other than the photographer and I suspect that confused the caption writer. It was frustrating for photographers and even reporters in the field to see what would happen to their stuff after it went through a couple of layers of editors: stories would end up with headlines that were not accurate, key points of stories were changed, and photos would end up with wrong captions. When I was starting out as a journalist, an old reporter told me, "Always misspell something in the first paragraph of your story - that gives the editors something to do so they won't feel the need to f**k with the content." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kammo-man Posted November 4, 2008 Share #13 Posted November 4, 2008 You lot a a bunch of Dick Tracys !!! I like the train of thought going on here o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hochiminhtrail Posted November 4, 2008 Share #14 Posted November 4, 2008 Nice bracelet you have there, they are not easy to find these days, i m wearing one that was given to me from a yard girlfriend i had in kontum, and they are only made from simple brass these days, probably recycled from ammo casing. I know a guy in kontum who looks for old bracelets, and they are not common at all. Im talking about real ones and not the ones for tourists. Back to the picture, as i metioned before i highly doubt that they were any Us Marines in pleyme in 65. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted November 4, 2008 Share #15 Posted November 4, 2008 I had a SF vet tell me that he saw/wore bracelets made out of old .30 cal brass cleaning rods. RON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrei Posted November 4, 2008 Share #16 Posted November 4, 2008 IMHO, the soldier in tigers is one of the SF blokes of Plei Me CIDG Camp. I have posted some pics of a besieged SF camp somewhere here and they are from the battle of Plei Me. And yes, Spikey's right about the tiger sets issuing. Too bad that we cant post pics of foreign armies because I know a serie of color pics showing French Paras on patrol in Algeria and believe me, not a single collector of french TAP would ever dress his mannequins like the troops are dressed on the pictures ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunbarrel Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share #17 Posted November 4, 2008 I'm glad that the picture created such an interesting conversation. Not sure if you all can see it, but I think this young lady is also wearing one of those bracelets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nguoi tien su Posted November 5, 2008 Share #18 Posted November 5, 2008 Great photo ! Is that your ex Alex ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hochiminhtrail Posted November 5, 2008 Share #19 Posted November 5, 2008 Hi NTS well she looks quite a bit like here actually, but she had no sword in here hands . Yard girls are less complicated then Vietnamese girls at least they drink jar wine with you, and can handel a bit of alcohol, and the party is fun. I think it s not the right place to post your ex girl friend pictures. Alex Great photo ! Is that your ex Alex ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kammo-man Posted November 5, 2008 Share #20 Posted November 5, 2008 Andrei Post your pix , you are proving a valid point . I know from growing up in the war in Northern Ireland I have seen first hand the most wacky camouflage combos of DPM , from 68 pattern worn with lightweight tropical all washed out in the winter ,to Falkland parkas worn with green lightweights owen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kammo-man Posted November 29, 2018 Share #21 Posted November 29, 2018 .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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