Hi,
Could anyone help me to identify this Uniform? I am not sure if the belt match the uniform. The size is 40R, in very good shape.
Thanks,
Jing
Hi,
Could anyone help me to identify this Uniform? I am not sure if the belt match the uniform. The size is 40R, in very good shape.
Thanks,
Jing
I don't know about the belt, but the jacket is part of the United States Air Force dress uniform circa 1970's. The one pin shows he was in Vietnam ( the green, yellow and red one), the green and white one is a commendation medal, and the last three are small arms markmenship medals.
Commendation Medal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
That buckle is probably not a US uniform piece. A crown and the religious symbol for the shepherd's staff does not go with anything I have ever seen in an American uniform. The belt and sambrown suspension with the sword or dagger hanger along with that buckle are probably European in origin or from some religious organization. I thought it might be Vatican guards at first, but the symbols are different.
Hi all,
Thanks for the reply. I figured out the buckle myself. It has the same pattern on the button of another uniform I have. And I found "patria roja military" on that uniform.
The 3 links are a dead giveaway - a symbol of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. I googled and found a 19th century Odd Fellows sword clasp with the same symbols as your belt buckle. So the guy was a USAF vet who later became an Odd Fellow. The belt is fraternal, not military. The yellow ribbon with the 3 red stripes is the Vietnam Service medal. Took just 1 day in RVN to get it, and the airmen in Thailand also got it since they "supported" the war in RVN. He should have some campaign stars on it though - I have 4 on mine. The green and white ribbon with the date bar is the Vietnam Campaign medal, awarded by South Vietnam to all allied personal who aided them against the communist North. It took 6 months in country to get it (unless you were wounded, when it was automatic), and again the guys in Thailand got it too. So the owner of the uniform may have been living it up in Thailand, rather than serving in RVN. The way the ribbons are arranged is bizarre. There is a specified order of ribbons, and this is not it. If those are marksmanship awards, why is he wearing the same one 3 times? Just for decoration? Also, no Good Conduct medal. Maybe that's why he was only an E-3. I'd expect an airman to make E-4 in the 4 years he served. Then again, the Army, Navy, and Marines regard airmen as strange creatures.
Decent USAF Airman's jacket, but the extra marksman ribbons are probably
add-ons, IMO. If a marksman were to win additional awards, there would
be a device on only one of the ribbons, if you can even qualify
for more than one of these.........
Regards,
Steve.
I qualified Sharpshooter with an M14 in Basic Combat Training. I scored Expert with the M16A1 in AIT. Thus I could have worn both badges, if I wanted to. But if you have the highest, why wear something lower? And you certainly would not wear 3 of the same badge (ribbons for the USAF). Soldiers and Marines have to requalify every so many years. I think the USAF only qualifies once and that is it. We also supposedly qualified with the bayonet, the M60 machine gun and the M79 grenade launcher, though the tests were a joke. Some GIs would hang bars for each one from their qualification badge. I thought it looked silly and was the sign of a newbie. I just wore the expert badge with a rifle bar.
I just took a closer look at the ribbons on the airman's jacket. The bottom three are on a bar, the way ribbons normally are worn. The two upper ribbons are added individually. I think you are right about someone adding them later, maybe whoever was trying to sell the jacket. It's quite possible the Odd Fellows belt was also an after thought to sell the whole lot.
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