Vietnam Marine's Viet Cong flag

[24th_infantry]

I just picked this up from a US marine who fought during the Tet Offensive. This was one of the flags he brought home in 1969. I do not know much about these flags but he told me that this was from Da Nang and refers to the Viet Cong forces attempting to take over Da Nang. 

 

I would love to hear feedback from people because I have recently started collecting Vietnam items aside from my usual WWII collecting. Thanks and enjoy!

 

[BEAT_NAVY]

Great find!

[USMC_COLLECTOR]

Amazing piece of history!

[Kurt Barickman]

Interesting, which unit was the Marine attached to?

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Kurt

[Blacksmith]

Please forgive me, but did they put year dates on flags during the war?

 

@gwb123

 

[24th_infantry]

14 hours ago, Kurt Barickman said:

Interesting, which unit was the Marine attached to?

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Kurt

I will ask him when I see him next week and try to get as much info about his service. 

[agate hunter]

Ill let others chime in but to me the flag looks suspect.. I would need to see a wartime photo of the vet with this flag to ease my suspicions, but it seems flags similar to these are always fake, and bring back ones with the writing i have seen look a bit different. 

[gwb123]

22 hours ago, Blacksmith said:

Please forgive me, but did they put year dates on flags during the war?

 

@gwb123

 

 

Apparently they did.  If you have Emring's book, there are two examples of "hero unit flags" that have dates (years) on them on pg. 124 and 125.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Field-Gear-North-Vietnamese/dp/0764305832/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ORGI2Q058DQY&keywords=weapons+and+field+gear+of+the+north+vietnamese&qid=1642291629&s=books&sprefix=weapons+and+field+gear+of+the+north+vietnamese%2Cstripbooks%2C63&sr=1-1

[gwb123]

My concern with this flag is that the star in the center should be some variation of yellow or gold. 

 

The material for the star looks dirty white, and may have been artificially aged.  Meanwhile the red and blue fields look pristine. 

It is hard to reconcile the two.  Why would any one sew a flag with substandard materials?

 

There is no wear and tear to this flag.  It looks like it was made a week ago. 

 

The marine had a photo of him holding it in Vietnam, which is often the case with trophy flags, the story would have more credibility. 

 

It would be interesting to hear the story of how this was acquired.  If it was captured during fighting it should have some signs of use or display. 

 

There are dozens of recently sewn reproduction "hero unit flags" available on eBay.  I suspect this is one of them. 

[jlhworks]

Thats a modern tourist fake. If I were you I wouldn't immediately assume outright dishonesty for why he sold you a fake. And IMO nothing good will come from calling him out on it.

[vintageproductions]

I hate to agree with the others but this flag is a current tourist fake.

 

I have handled only three real NVA /  VC embroidered flags. Once you see one real one, you will never fall for these cheap copies again.

[24th_infantry]

Thank you all for your input! I feel like a schmuck falling for it, especially from a vet. At least I learned and did not pay a lot for it. Maybe I will hang it up and just enjoy the colors. Thanks again for all the help!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

15 minutes ago, 24th_infantry said:

Thank you all for your input! I feel like a schmuck falling for it, especially from a vet. At least I learned and did not pay a lot for it. Maybe I will hang it up and just enjoy the colors. Thanks again for all the help!

Hey, don’t “beat yourself up” too much. We’ve all been in that very same spot. This is partly how you learn: we make mistakes, we learn from them, and we move forward. The take-away from this is that just because something is from a veteran doesn’t always make it “right”. Whether he knew it was a fake or not may never be determined. It could have been the result of his failing memory or not.

 

And, I have to tell you as we get older it is easier to get confused. I’m a Vietnam combat veteran and several things are becoming apparent to me: 1) I didn’t really pay much attention to uniforms, patches, badges, etc. when I was in-country; since I had other things on my mind, like staying alive, 2) When I did start collecting I “co-mingled” my personal badges, patches, and medals with things I bought, and 3) Reference materials were initially ‘thin on the ground’. Now at 75 I’m trying to rectify some of my earlier mistakes. For example, I’ve started separating my personal things from things I’ve bought or traded. I’ve also started taking photos of my personal stuff and creating a file for each item with its back story.

 

Again, learn from this experience, get some good reference materials, and use this Forum to sound out things. Meanwhile, continue to enjoy collecting. 

[Blacksmith]

Yeah, Vietnam-era flags are pretty dangerous - more so than WWII in my opinion.  This is mainly because the same machines, using the same materials, are likely still making these.  
 

I got burned on one years ago, that was “guaranteed” original.  Funny story, when it turned out bad, the seller didn’t honor his guarantee.  Hmm.  Karma will set that right.

 

 

[gwb123]

9 hours ago, 24th_infantry said:

Thank you all for your input! I feel like a schmuck falling for it, especially from a vet. At least I learned and did not pay a lot for it. Maybe I will hang it up and just enjoy the colors. Thanks again for all the help!

 

Some vets pick up stuff over time, both good and bad, and often cannot remember where they got it. 

 

I prefer to be generous and assume that is what happened.

 

A wall hanger indeed, or the backdrop to a photo shoot or display cabinet.  I keep one just for comparison purposes.

 

[gwb123]

8 hours ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

 

And, I have to tell you as we get older it is easier to get confused. I’m a Vietnam combat veteran and several things are becoming apparent to me: 1) I didn’t really pay much attention to uniforms, patches, badges, etc. when I was in-country; since I had other things on my mind, like staying alive, ...

 

That is a very typical experience of many veterans, although there were a handful who were ASMIC members and collectors even before they deployed.

 

I talked to a vet who was dealing Army surplus at a swap meet in San Jose back in the 80's or 90's.  He told me he didn't realize that he and his whole company had been wearing 1st pattern Jungle Fatigues the whole time he was over there, and now in the present day he could not find a set to save his life!

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

gwb123, gosh, that would have been something if I was a collector back in Vietnam … I would have been sending home boxes and boxes of “goodies”. Free mailing, too!