Its a Zippo but ?

[Burnt Chimney]

Is there any way to tell what era the lighter is from by the Serial # it was painted yellow at some point . I did a people search and they were a lot of D.G.Peters of all ages and then the sites want you to pay for more details.
Anyway thanks for looking

 

[clovis97]

Man you guys don't mess around ! If I'm reading it right it is a 1967.
Thanks , I'll do some checking around tonight.

If you research the guy the guy through genealogy records, I'd guess that D.G. Peters was the age of 18 to 23 or so.

Of course, the Zippo could have been made in '67, but sat in a warehouse until '69 before being sold and engraved.

Assuming it was sold in '67, and assuming Mr. Peters was 19 at the time, his birth year would have been 1948. Given these assumptions, I'd guess that Mr. Peters was born between 1946 and 1952, give or take.

Have you tried the Church of the Latter Day Saints genealogy site? It is the best in the world.

 

[Kenosha Kid]

FWIW, all that I've ever read said that a "short timer" had just 30 days left of duty "in country" in Vietnam.

My guess is that this Zippo was a unit thing, to commemorate a soldier becoming a short timer.

I'm also guessing that the 'walking finger' artwork on the front is not a Marine logo of any sort, but a sign of the soldier's personal attitude towards the world for those last 30 days of in country service. It could also be meant as "Screw you all, I'm leaving this place".

I've seen that artwork before...I've spent most of my life reading WWII, Korea, and Vietnam military history books.

Any Vietnam vets out there to confirm this?

From when I was in, I've always known a short-timer to be 30 days ... then the '29 and a wake up' countdown began.

The artwork, as far as I know, either means 'screw you, I'm outta here' or FTA (you'll know what I mean if you served).

 

[jeff of pa]

There are Tons of designs For zippos
some look like Personal Engravings

http://zippogallery.com/Vietnam1.htm

 

[clovis97]

Here is the LDS genealogy website:

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp

I found about 19 or 20 different people under D. Peters with birth dates between 1943 and 1952, as well as the year that they passed.

 

[clovis97]

FWIW, all that I've ever read said that a "short timer" had just 30 days left of duty "in country" in Vietnam.

My guess is that this Zippo was a unit thing, to commemorate a soldier becoming a short timer.

I'm also guessing that the 'walking finger' artwork on the front is not a Marine logo of any sort, but a sign of the soldier's personal attitude towards the world for those last 30 days of in country service. It could also be meant as "Screw you all, I'm leaving this place".

I've seen that artwork before...I've spent most of my life reading WWII, Korea, and Vietnam military history books.

Any Vietnam vets out there to confirm this?

From when I was in, I've always known a short-timer to be 30 days ... then the '29 and a wake up' countdown began.

The artwork, as far as I know, either means 'screw you, I'm outta here' or FTA (you'll know what I mean if you served).

Thanks for the confirmation.

Wouldn't it be FTM, in this case? LOL.

 

[diggummup]

I found a David G. Peters,
Last residence: 28348 (Hope Mills, Cumberland, NC )
Jun 10, 1947- Nov 06, 2010
in the Social Security death index but I cannot find any other info relating to him and D.G. could stand for anything.

 

[HoosierPirates]

Im not a facebook user but I understand that it is a pretty powerful tool... Maybe there are groups that can help ?

 

[aaron7]

Way easier to just post a pic of the bottom and stop guessing on the age!

 

[Dano Sverige]

Maybe it's just me being the superstitious type, but walking around Vietnam still with 30 days to go with an item symbolizing "screw you i'm going home!" in my pocket...is just begging for disaster! lol.
"Long timer" would be better in my opinion, symbolizing "I've been here for ages. Time for a break!"

The US military have always been strange to us outsiders, so i guess they had their reasons?

 

[Burnt Chimney]

Way easier to just post a pic of the bottom and stop guessing on the age!

Trees down and power is out at the house since midnight , So no picture of the bottom on this hard drive at work!
Bottom reads l l l l ZIPPO l l l

 

[aaron7]

That's a 1967!

 

[diggummup]

That's a 1967!

I thought we'd already established that in reply #11?

 

[aaron7]

Oh ok, I didn't think he posted the bottom marking till now!

 

[Curious-type]

I can’t be sure that the first initial is a D or O.

Peters likely was in Khe Sanh and Da Nang Vietnam, Kaohsiung Taiwan, Subic Bay Philippines and Camp Schwab Okinawa. He was probably BLT-26. He may have had the lighter engraved at any of those places.... quite common.

First Battalion Third Marine Division was simple known as 1/3 meeting another Marine you might say something like “Tanks, One-Three” And the other may respond with something like “Tracks, One-One” It’s part of that secret little Leatherneck language.

SLF is Special Landing Force.

Tank Platoon would have been small. Locating someone from Tank Platoon from that era could prove fruitful.

I owned several Zippos. Some I had engraved, some I found, some I bought in the PX pre-engraved.

The Walking F’ing Finger was common.

As far as being ‘Short’ that was subjective. When Marines first showed up they were called ‘Newbie’, if they hadn’t been in long they were called ‘Boot-Newbie’ they were referred to as FNG’s “F’ing New Guy” That was a title you were happy to lose. Once you had less than 100 days you would call yourself a two-digit-midget. Not long after that you might start calling yourself Short. Some Marines, In Country, would start notching a stick at two months and add a notch daily… that was called a Short Stick.

Zippos are collectable, especially ones with a historical story.

I have found this site fascinating and figured I might as well post somewhere. I don’t know much about Metal Detecting; but, I did spend a long time in the Corps and know a little about that topic.

Semper Fidelis

 

[Sky Pilot]

Really good info, Curious!

Welcome to TreasureNet!! Glad you are here!

Sky Pilot

 

[Silversmith45]

I bought two Zippo's while I was in Viet Nam in 1969. One was a standard Zippo with an enamel 101st unit crest on the front. I had my name and serial number engraved on it. The other I bought at a small gift shop run by some Koreans. They must have done good business because they had a brand new American Jeep parked out front. This lighter I had my name and 101st Ariborne and the year 1969 engraved on the front. I watched while he did it with a small hammer and chisel. On the back I had him put a map of Vietnam. This he did with an engraving machine with a templet. I still have them. I just ran across them and my challenge coin the other day.

 

[Sky Pilot]

That's really something, SilverSmith! Times sure have changed, haven't they? Think of all the water under the bridge since you bought those lighters home!

Hopefully they get this one back to the man that had it all those years ago.


Sky Pilot

 

[Gunrunner61]

Curious, I just want to say thank you, for your sacrifice, and all the other folks here and everywhere that served, you are true American Hero's in my book GOD BLESS you all.