Vietnam militaria has been my primary collecting focus since I entered the hobby and Special Forces berets rank high on my list of items I will never grow tired of collecting.  With all the variations of flashes (shield shaped beret insignia), makers, and DI’s (Distinctive Insignia), one could easily spend their lifetime collecting green berets alone!  I will be sharing berets from my collection in a series of articles.  Some are dolled up, some are named, most are just honest Vietnam era berets from the various Groups and time periods.

1968 Government Beret w/ Machine Embroidered 5th Group Flash

This is one of the first berets I acquired and it remains one of my favorites.  The nomenclature is virtually gone, but if you hold the beret at the right angle, you can see remnants of a DSA-68 code.  The 5th SFGA flash has darkened from sweat and soil, and the “D-22″ marked DI has an arrow broken off, giving the beret much character.  I particularly enjoy the build up of green verdigris following the outline of the harp.  The beret has a great drape and is perfectly salty!

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FANK Beret with Quilted Flash & Embroidered Liner

It’s been my experience that berets with fancy embroidered liners of tigers, dragons, shell bursts, etc seldom appear to have seen much use.  This is not the case with this beret.  The lining is nice and salty and shows notable use, yet it does not detract from the beautiful embroidery work.  The FANK / UITG flash is equally beautiful (and used).  It is the hand embroidered, quilted variety that some claim to be the 1st variation, with the later versions being embroidered on twill.  I haven’t confirmed this distinction.

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1967 Dated JFK Special Warfare Center Beret

This is another beret I’ve had in the collection for a long time.  When I purchased the beret, I was pleased to discover the vet had painted the leather tab inside the beret white and printed his name and Social Security number over the white.  I was able to research the veteran and learn he had a lengthy career in Special Forces with multiple tours in SEA (South East Asia).  The beret is 1967 dated and government contract through Dorothy Mills, Canada.  It has a machine embroidered JFK Special Warfare flash and DI.

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Read Vietnam Special Forces Green Berets: Part II

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 5th, 2009 at 8:29 pm and is filed under Militaria Articles by Era, Special Forces & MACV-SOG, Vietnam War Militaria. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.