Bookmark and Share
 
Military Zippos                                                                                  

The U.S. Military was an early customer of Zippo and became Zippo Manufacturing Co.'s exclusive customer during World War II with a steel Zippo with a "black crackle" finish. After the war, ability to personalize the Zippo led to its adoption for use as commemoratives and souvenirs by US as well as foreign military divisions and units.  The Zippo lighters on this page include examples of how Zippo lighters were engraved for various military and related organizations.  For more examples of military Zippos, see the Army, Navy,  Vietnam and other pages in the Zippo Gallery.
     
 

This is a 1936-40 Zippo with diagonal lines engraved with a line-drawn US Marine Corp logo and "C. Kenneday"
on the lid.  The is one of the earliest Zippos with a military-related engraving.		  
This is a 1940-41 model Zippo  with an attached emblem of the United States.
 
See the World War II and black crackle Zippos HERE
 

1946-49 Zippo which has been engraved with the image of a top hat and "Top Three Club - . Top Three Club Ashiya Air Force Base, Kyushu Japan" during the US occupation of Japan.


1949-50 Zippo.  The front is engraved with maps of Korea
and Japan and "Far East Command 1948-49-50-51-52
Robert J.Tooley.  The reverse
has an engraving of a topless Japanese woman grooming herself.  Elaborate Japanese designs on Zippos and Japanese sterling lighters for Zippo inserts were common during the post WWII occupation.
1952-53 Zippo for . USS Consolation (AH-15), a hospital ship that served the wounded during the Korean War and became the “First Hospital Ship to Receive Casualties Directly by Helicopter”.
       
1953 Zippo for 16th AAA Battalion1953 Zippo for 16th AAA Battalion >

1952-53 Zippo with an attached badge with the logo of the First Allied Airborne Army.
1953 Zippo for the with engraved emblems for the Army's 16th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion. The front of the lid reads "16 AAA Bn. (Gun 90MM) 10 Dec 1952 - 5 Jan 1954", referring to the 90mm antiaircraft gun used by the battalion.  The lid reads "Major J.A. Tringali on the reverse.
1957 Zippo for the USS Sturgis commemorating its role in the "1957 Dewline Operation - Crossed the Arctic Circle"  The DEW line was a "Distance Early Warning" line of telecommunications stations across the Arctic  to provide the earliest possible warning of aircraft passing the polar route. 
 
 

1956 Zippo engraved with the logo of the Strategic Air Command.  The reverse has
been personalized for "R. K. Hamilton Eighth Air Force Outstanding Crew April 1956".		  
1958 Zippo for USS Harder, a Tang Class submarine. Its
motto is "Hit 'Em Harder, Hit
'Em Again Harder"..		  
 
"

1959 Zippo for the US Air Force  Tactical Missile School 4504th Missile Training Wing.
1966 Zippo for the 538th Ordnance Company which was stationed in South Korea. Note the Russian Bear with the red star on lid.
1966 Zippo. The front reads "New
Britain Conn. Mike & Linny". 
The reverse lid reads "USMC 63-66 -
Hawaii, Japan, Okinawa,
Philippines, Hong Kong,
Vietnam".
     


1967 Zippo for 166th Transportation Detachment Cowboy Mainenance Support with an anvil and helicopter wearing a cowboy hat.

 
1968 Zippo with the
logo of the 2nd
Surgical Hospital - Second to None.
1969 Zippo for "Co D, 16th Armor,
173rd Airborne Armor".  The reverse reads "E Troop, 17th Cavalry, Fighters
by Day, Lovers by Night, Drunkards
by Choice, The Airborne". The 173rd was the first major ground combat
unit of the United States Army to
serve in Vietnam.
     

1969 Zippo for 166th Ordnance Company GM
DS (Guided Missile Direct Support) for Nike Hercules guided missile systems with the image of a ferocious-looking bear.
1972 Zippo commemorating American Veterans in World War II, Korea,
and Vietnam.
1969 Zippo with an F-4 Phantom of
the Air Force of Israel. The reverse reads "Yehuda Chen 1970
Lee Martin".
     

1972 Zippo commemorating 25th Anniversary United States Air Force "Pride
in the Past - Faith in the Future".
1974 Zippo with an attached 82nd
Airborne AA badge.
1973 Zippo commemorating the Mayaguez Rescue by the USS
Corral Sea CV 43.  The rescue, sometimes referred to as the last
battle of the Vietnam War, took
place on May 15, 1975 following
the capture of the merchant ship
SS Mayaguez along with 39
American sailors by the Khmer
Rouge off Tang Island in Cambodia.
     

1986 Venetian pattern Zippo with attached crest
of the 504th Infantry Regiment  with the
motto "Strike Hold".


1993 Zippo. CAPLE (French Foreign
Legion’s administrative company).

 
1978 gold-plated slim Zippo with
the logo of the US Coast Guard. 
The reverse has an engine
turned pattern.
     

See more Zippos:  Vietnam War- Army - Navy - World War II - Ernie Pyle - USS Missouri Surrender - Brown Water Navy - Military or go to the Gallery Index