OK Vets coming back from Vietnam?

[lasher]

Thanks a ton Lasher...I sincerely appreciate the info.

One last question, do you happen to recall which particular style of camo helmet cover that most Marines were being issued during that time (photos below...#1 Mitchell pattern, #2 USMC 3rd pattern, #3 USMC mosquito net cover)? Based on photos it looks like the USMC was using four different covers at this time (including the solid OD cover) and I'm not sure which one was the most issued. I have always assumed that the Mitchell covers weren't widely used yet as there had only been one production run of Mitchell covers for the USMC (in 1959) up to that point. All the other Mitchell cover production contracts prior to 1965 were Army if I remember correctly.

Thanks again for your input.


#1. Mitchell pattern

#2. USMC 3rd pattern

#3. USMC mosquito net cover

somewhere i have a photo of me in my helmet, it's in black and white so it's a tough call. we didn't have chin straps like #1, so i'm going with #2 but much more faded LOL, altho it seems there was more green in the pattern. if #1 had a chin strap like 2 & 3 i would have said #1. i loathed my helmet so only paid attention to it when i needed it. i suspect it's the cause of neck vertebra problems i have, sucker was heavy and the green machine had a 1 size fits all in the liners, having a giant gourd was a plus, not having a giant gourd resulted in lots of bounce and headaches. if i find the photo i'll see what if any light it would shed on the question

 

[SdoubleA]

Not trolling at all. I was thinking the other day about how returning vets were treated so shabbily when they first arrived Stateside, and I wondered if the same treatment continued in the conservative state that Oklahoma tends to be. So far we have a range of responses from "uneventful" to "very negative college dean / potential employer."

Nothing to do with provable facts and actual documentation. Just personal experiences.

Firstly, Oklahoma wasn't always as conservative as now.

Secondly, I would venture to say all you will find will be personal experiences, and hardly any verifiable, proven documentation.

Like other things and times in life, you would have just had to have been there to really comprehend, as all else is speculation or conjecture.

 

[SdoubleA]

Communists, too?

I was referring to otherwise decent folks that didn't know the truth about what had happened or was happening. While being not as many as today, the media of the day back then had their own agendas, same as the damn politicians trying to run the war instead of letting the military do it and get the damned thing over with. Hmmmm....I guess they still are today. Aren't they?

 

[CorpsVet]

lasher, don't know why you say VFW and Am. Legion wouldn't have "us". I've been a member of both for several years, and I am a Life Member of VFW.

 

[lasher]

lasher, don't know why you say VFW and Am. Legion wouldn't have "us". I've been a member of both for several years, and I am a Life Member of VFW.

they do now, but they told me and a friend they didn't want us around because they'd won their war and we had lost ours. this is right after we had been released from active duty. not now. now they welcome us,,,well because those in charge are us. that was my experience, your mileage may vary.

one of my drill instuctors lived about 2 miles from me here in edmond, we went out to sgt grits and stopped for lunch. as i was getting out of his car he told me "i don't remember you being so big, i shouldn't have thumped you." i told him he had never thumped me but another drill instructor had, and i fully understood then it was part of the learning process. he told me how proud his class of drill instructors had been of us, and i thanked him for teaching me the things that helped many of us survive. he later gave me a book written by the author of "we were soldiers" joe what's his name. joe what's his name autographed it to me with a "Semper Fi". i think all 4 of our drill instructors are likely gone now, Staff Sergeant Washington, Sergeant Morgan (he thumped me LOL), Sergeant Villeneuva, and Sergeant Shell- who gave me the book.

 

[Perplexed]

Firstly, Oklahoma wasn't always as conservative as now.

Secondly, I would venture to say all you will find will be personal experiences, and hardly any verifiable, proven documentation.

Like other things and times in life, you would have just had to have been there to really comprehend, as all else is speculation or conjecture.

Thanks for the comments. As for the verifiable documentation, that was actually in reference to another thread. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Burk Cornelius]

I have a friend who came back from Vietnam and I have as much respect for him as for those who serve now.

Maybe more for what he went through

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[CorpsVet]

lasher, I joined VFW in 1969, while still on active duty, American Legion 1971, just sayin'

 

[lasher]

lasher, I joined VFW in 1969, while still on active duty, American Legion 1971, just sayin'

good for you, just sayin

 

[coolhandluke]

somewhere i have a photo of me in my helmet, it's in black and white so it's a tough call. we didn't have chin straps like #1, so i'm going with #2 but much more faded LOL, altho it seems there was more green in the pattern. if #1 had a chin strap like 2 & 3 i would have said #1. i loathed my helmet so only paid attention to it when i needed it. i suspect it's the cause of neck vertebra problems i have, sucker was heavy and the green machine had a 1 size fits all in the liners, having a giant gourd was a plus, not having a giant gourd resulted in lots of bounce and headaches. if i find the photo i'll see what if any light it would shed on the question

Great..thanks again Lasher. I'd love to see a photo if you run across one. The type of cover shown in the second photo was issued during the 1950's but were still in use well into the 1960's. The mosquito net covers are the same camo pattern, but the material is different (not herringbone twill), they're not reversible, and they also have a foliage band and netting attached. The cover on #2 is fairly dirty and would have appeared much more green in color when it was new. Other than the photo that I previously posted, I believe that all the other photographs of the 9th Marine Division that I have seen, they are wearing the Mitchell style covers. I just haven't been able to figure out who else may have been issued the solid OD covers.

The chinstraps on the first helmet would have been more representative of a late 60's USMC helmet. They made use of airborne liners during this time...rumor is that they came out of 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne supply.