The Iconic 'Sweat Rag'
Hello all,
Often seen draped around soldiers necks in photos, a sweat rag often finishes the Vietnam soldier display well. I have obtained four examples of which I am reasonably sure of being from the era. Are there any other designs out there?
Cheers
As you say, this is one of those things that adds detail to a display. I don't know much about these at all but the top one in your pic looks very much like the British WWII face veil (later issues were plain green rather than green/brown and are still in use today).
Regards
Mark
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
Hello.
I think it is extremely hard to impossible to authenticate such items.. One of those things where You neever know, if it's not coming directly from a vet's family, whom You know personally.
How much costs such stuff?
Regards,
Peter
Difficult to authenticate but also given the fact that these rags or towels were worn in a climate of extreme heat and moisture I would think that such items would have rotted.
I have the olive green checked pattern one in the photos. This particular pattern shows up in period photos. The sweat rags were also issued in Australia (and still are today) hence some have survived. Nice collection christek. Now I have to try and remember where I put my three examples.
This photo I took in the Australian War Memorial showing the checker pattern.
Here are my three.
Vn era checker on the left.
A slightly later version in the centre (christek's version has the print over the top).
And the current version on the right (looks like it would make good helmet scrim).
There is also a good photo of the checked pattern rag on the Australian War Memorial website Ref: REL33465. They date this item as circa 1966 to 1971. As well as an image of christek's printed version dated circa 1967 Ref: REL34959.
G'day Mark,by Watchdog
The top two-toned 'net style' rag was definitely used by Australian forces in Vietnam although it is not as commonly seen in period photos as other styles such as the checker patter Ubique shows on the display.
Here is a great image showing an example (from our memorial museum).
Cheers
Hi Peter,
Not so difficult to authenticate (so to speak) these items rather than attribute their issue/use to the actual war. This is of course difficult/veering to impossible without concrete providence. I have found these particular examples in situations that spread across a relatively broad spectrum; some more concrete than others. As I stated, I can only be reasonably sure they of the Vietnam War era, but that is about it. As for value, I would say they are inexpensive but as all with items from this era, they are becoming harder to find.
Cheers
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