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The Zippos depicted on this
and the following pages
illustrate the variety of
"themes" that exist within
the world of Vietnam Zippos.Vietnam War Zippos represent a varied and
popular category for collectors for military
memorabilia collectors as well as for Zippo
fans. There are
Army,
Navy,
Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard Vietnam
Zippos, as well as Zippos for the RVN,
Australian and other services. A
subset of Vietnam War Navy Zippos are
Riverine or so-called
Brown-Water Navy
Zippos. There are different types of Vietnam
engravings which are not necessarily
mutually exclusive: (1) Zippo factory
engraved; (2) engraved "in-field" during the
War; (3) engraved by Veterans after the the
war as personal souvenirs, and (4) engraved
in more recent times to be sold as
"in-field" Vietnam Zippos to unsuspecting
collectors. There are also fakes,
meaning lighters that closely resemble
genuine Zippos that collectors should watch
out for.
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1962 Zippo
engraved with "S-CES
Feb 66"
on the lid and "124th Med
Det (DS)" with a
cadeus logo on the case. |
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1965 factory-engraved Zippo
with the USMC logo and
Danang, Vietnam. |
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1965 Zippo engraved
in-field, with a map
of Vietnam on one side
and
"LE Dunbar, 2116168,
USMC, Chu Lai, Danang,
Viet-Nam" on the other. |
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1st Marine Division
logo with
map of Vietnam on
the reverse,
a factory engraved
1966 Zippo |
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This 1966 Zippo says
"Vietnam 66-67 Da
Nang US Marine Corps
" and barely visible
in the naval crest
lightly engraved
reads "Smokey '66".
The back side reads
"Yea Though I Walk
Through The Valley
of the Shadow of
Death I will fear
no Evil For I am the
Evilest
Son of a Bitch in
the Valley" Also
lightly engraved on
the back is the name
"Danny". |
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1967 Zippo for
"Troop E, 17th
Cavalry Viet Nam"
with attached badge
for the
Black Knights
VMFA-314 .
The back reads
"Vietnam 67-68 Hue
Killing for Peace
Was Like Fucking For
Virginity". |
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1967 Zippo. One side
is
engraved "To Pop,
Merry Christmas,
from John, '67".
The other side
apparently
engraved in-field
"Freedom
for those who
fought, it has
a special flavor the
protected will never
know". |
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In-field engraved 1968 Zippo
belonging
to Jack Treanton,
USMC, who
apparently
served 1967-69
in Khe Sanh, Dung
Ha, Phu Bai, Quang
Tri, An Hoa, Chu Lai
and Da Nang. |
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1968
factory-engraved
Zippo
for USGC Yakutat
WHEC 380
of Coast Guard
Squadron Three, a
high-endurance
cutter which
eventually was
turned over to the
South Vietnamese
Navy. |
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1968 Zippo for L.
Moore, Operations
Officer, USMC,
US Embassy, Saigon.
"California Dreamin",
San Jose,
California. |
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1968
factory-engraved
high-polish
Zippo
with the
"Wooly Booger" logo
of
the 620th
Tactical Control
Squadron of the US
Air Force and its
motto "Mountain of
Vigilance". The
reverse reads
"Monkey Mountain
Vietnam" which is
located near Da Nang. |
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"I Came Here and
Left
Behind a Nice Family
and
a Wonderful Girl
Whom
I Love, But Someday
I Will
Go Home", dedicated
to
Judy Lemmings from
Da
Nang, Viet Nam.
The
Zippo is from 1968. |
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Zippo reads
"U.S. Air Force 1969
Vietnam - Bien Hoa
822nd Combat
Security Police -
CSP" and the back
"Guardians of the
Big Birds Nest…
A 1C
(Airman First Class)
R. Leiter"
has a map
of Vietnam. |
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This 1969 Zippo with
Snoopy's "Good
Grief Another
Mission" is for
Charlie
Battery, 1st
Battalion, 13th
Marines,
which fought intense
battles in
Khe
Sanh in 1968. |
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T1969 Zippo with a
logo "Det 11
Portcall 619 TCS"
referring to the
619th Tactical
Control Squadron
Detachment 11 Based
at Tan Son Nhut AB. |
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