Green Berets found at auction

[bullgill]

There are three caps showing three stars and two stripes. They are made by,
"United Hatters Cap & Millinery Wkrs Intnl. Union"

The three stars and two stripes on the three factory made hats is the flag of Washington D. C. I do not know what that means in regards what role a soldier would play showing that insignia.

There is also one that looks handmade and shows the usual lightning bolts and sword for Airborne except this one shows two lightning bolts instead of three. Not a clue what this means but I guess Green Berets were allowed to modify their insignia's and hand stitch their own caps. It also seems they were allowed to choose any millinery that they wanted to based on the fact that there are so many variations of makers for these.

I was guessing that these are 60's, picked them up for $6 at a local auction. You can see on one of the caps that there used to be a medal pinned to it.

 

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[diggummup]

I'm not sure what they are but I don't believe they are Green Beret caps. Military in style but I believe made for civilians. I could be wrong but thats my first thoughts without researching the insignias.

 

[huntsman53]

I am pretty sure diggummup is correct as I can't find either of the Flashes (Unit Insignia for a Beret) online.

US Army Special Forces Military Flashes ~ USA Green Beret Store

https://www.eaglesofwar.com/c-8-beret-flashes-and-background-trimmings.aspx

Also, I want to note that many Countries have adopted the Green Beret for their' Soldiers to wear daily or for special events but they are not supposed to be worn in combat or combat training, although some likely do just like our Green Berets often did in Vietnam and elsewhere.

 

[A2coins]

cool find ya never know

 

[ecmjamsit]

Civil Affairs & Psychological Operations Command is the claim on a militaria forum. See link below.

Special Forces Airborne with two lightning bolts - ARMY AND USAAF - U.S. Militaria Forum

 

[huntsman53]

Civil Affairs & Psychological Operations Command is the claim on a militaria forum. See link below.

Special Forces Airborne with two lightning bolts - ARMY AND USAAF - U.S. Militaria Forum

Yeah but the insignia on the O.P.'s Green Beret is upside down compared to the official one, so I don't believe it is an official Flash (Insignia) for a Green Beret.

 

[Gary18]

Hello everyone. This is my first post and I just wanted to say what a great site. Years ago in the 80's I started metal detecting with a Garrett Groundhog and graduated to a Whites 6000 DI Series II Pro. Great times. Life and work kind of got in the way so I haven't detected in quite a while, however I never lost "the bug". Regarding the Green Beret (Army Special Forces) discussion. To be concise, in SF there are various units (Command and Groups, etc). Each has it's own designated "flash". Each Green Beret assigned to that unit wears the unit's flash on his beret as a means of unit affiliation. Officers wear their rank centered on the beret flash. Enlisted soldiers (who form the backbone of the units) wear the SF regimental insignia. Below is an example. The berets in question appear well made and appear to be of a civilian type design based on the seam displayed in the second picture. Current US military berets are seamless. Regarding the flashes, it's common for various civic and fraternal organizations that desire to wear berets as part of their own apparel to develop their own flash. It appears that's what we have here as the pattern of each flash doesn't match any SF unit that I was aware of or that I could find on the web. In sum, they look like well made wool berets with embroidered flashes designed to emulate Army SF headgear.

 

[huntsman53]

Thanks Gary for the clarification and welcome to TNet! We hope you will stay with us, take up metal detecting again and share adventures and finds with us. I left the U.S. Army 40 years ago on March 30, 1978 and since I was not in the Special Forces, I am not up on a lot of the caps and gear that the units used or have used since that time. Again, thanks for the clarification!

 

[bullgill]

Thank you for the responses, I appreciate it.

As far as I can tell they were allowed to use any millinery that they wanted to make their cap there for I would not be surprised to see extreme variations in construction.

I would also assume that all four hats belonged to the same person, that being said I was also thinking that they might be fraternal. Most likely ex military?

 

[tnt-hunter]

Just wanted to say thank you to all of you who served in the military. Our country would be a very different place without people like you who helped keep us all safe and free. Hats off to all of you and God bless you. I cannot thank you enough and we all need to be grateful for your sacrifice and service.

 

[Ron P]

I'm retire Civil affairs, the forum is the shoulder patch (you won't see that as a beret flash) the beret flash is not any civil affairs I'm familiar with. But these beret flashes are real. I found two variants. These are Vietnam period, the lightning bolt and sword is "Mike Force" Vietnam special forces and the starred once may be Vietnamese but I cannot find it yet:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mike-Force-Vietnam-Special-Forces-beret-flash-patch-138-/192103055999
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mike-Force...itm=191224410272&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en....0....0...1c.1.64.img..0.0.0....0.8oNgC4e6dYI

 

[Oddjob]

Can only think of 9 nations that use the Green among their Special Operations, 6 of which use a Cap Badge and not a flash, and only two nations have Flash Backing, but really I met few and far between that did not cut that, look back up to Garys post and his Command Flash you can tell is cut. You could check out the Finns Coastal Crazys, I mean Rangers. Trained with a few but it was not one of those soft hat sort of events and since they are the only ones left with Flash Backs I could not say

Maybe it is from the Girl Scouts Paintball team, they are about the only ones I can think of who do not shave it and cut.

 

[ecmjamsit]

I wanted to say MACV-SOG in my first post. But that would be a pure guess. Maybe it is buried in some obscure records.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Assistance_Command,_Vietnam_–_Studies_and_Observations_Group

Update: Guy in my area selling an exact same patch on ebay.

Quote: The description for this patch from the book on beret flashes from WA HUDSPEATH states as follows "On a black shield bordered yellow-gold, a yellow-gold knife, point down. Over all 2 bendwise red lightning bolts. Reportedly worn by all MIKE FORCES in Vietnam c. 1966 on a limited basis, and embroidered on velvet".

 

[WisconsinPirate]

These are real green berets. The one with the tails is something the unit issued. It probably was never worn because the label is still in it, tails are still on it, and it is not shaved. The other could have been made from a local source, and it looks shaved. So it could have been worn. The post about it being a MIKE force vietnam patch is probably correct. A lot of SF teams, especially during the Vietnam era, made up their own flashes. You can email the SFA or the JFKSWC Museum and ask if they recognize the flashes. These are very cool finds.