Soldiers' Engraved Lighters from Vietnam

Kinja'd!!! "cazzyodo" (cazzyodo)
03/15/2016 at 08:58 • Filed to: None

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I’m guessing some of you have seen this on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! but my buddy sent it to me. It’s amazing what kind of insight you get into the minds of the soldiers from such an unlikely source. A few of these are pretty detailed; they are sincerely impressive pieces.

Some are sweet.

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Some are badass.

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Some are comical.

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Some are empowering.

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Many are understandably sad.

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All of them are personal. I can’t imagine mandatory enlistment for the able, let alone volunteering. I have friends who serve and some have lost close friends...to all of them I am deeply thankful.

Enjoy the history and remember the sacrifice.

Edit: Per adamftw, these may not be real.

Though the ones here may or may not be authentic there seems to be a history behind the concept, at least. I’m looking elsewhere and finding that engraving name, location and “feelings” was a practice. Though I would imagine not as common as the flooded market over there would suggest. The idea had to come from somewhere.

(Mods, if this needs to go to Cigar Lounge or something, let me know.)


DISCUSSION (11)


Kinja'd!!! $kaycog > cazzyodo
03/15/2016 at 09:06

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Those are really something else...........very meaningful.


Kinja'd!!! cazzyodo > $kaycog
03/15/2016 at 09:08

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It blows my mind. My (aforementioned) buddy and I are still messaging back and forth about them.


Kinja'd!!! adamftw > cazzyodo
03/15/2016 at 09:14

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Except that another poster on Reddit has said that they’re all fakes.


Kinja'd!!! StingrayJake > cazzyodo
03/15/2016 at 09:20

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Me when playing Battlefield...

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Kinja'd!!! cazzyodo > adamftw
03/15/2016 at 09:21

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I’m digging more and found a post from two years ago ...this seems to make the rounds quite a bit.

Though the ones here may or may not be authentic there seems to be a history behind the concept, at least. I’m looking elsewhere and finding that engraving name, location and “feelings” was a practice. Though I would imagine not as common as the flooded market over there would suggest. The idea had to come from somewhere.


Kinja'd!!! X37.9XXS > cazzyodo
03/15/2016 at 09:22

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And the ever popular, across all service branches

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Kinja'd!!! cazzyodo > X37.9XXS
03/15/2016 at 09:24

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I love Snoopy vs the Red Baron. I don’t know why because I honestly watched the Peanuts maybe a half dozen times when I was little but that bit struck and stayed with me.


Kinja'd!!! Snuze: Needs another Swede > X37.9XXS
03/15/2016 at 09:27

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“Good night Jane Fonda!”

“Good night Bitch!”

Line from an actual USNA marching cadence that’s now banned.


Kinja'd!!! AuthiCooper1300 > cazzyodo
03/15/2016 at 13:18

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Such an interesting subject.

A guy I know who trades in old cars and has travelled extensively used to have a well-worn (but not “worn-out”) Zippo lighter with – if I remember correctly – some sort of dragon? engraved and the inscription “we are the bastards of Kon Tum” or something like that. It struck me because it reminded me of the “We are the bastards from Bataan” ditty from WW2 in the Philippines.

It was not very nicely done (the script was a bit irregular), more like what one would do in the field to pass the time. I think it had a little email or paint (three colours max) in the drawing. Again, faded and chipped in areas, but not all over the place.

I only saw it once or twice and intended to borrow it from him to do a proper examination but he had misplaced it somewhere. He couldn’t even remember how or where he got it either.

It’s amazing how powerful these old objects can feel. I gave my partner an old Leica once and when we checked the manufacturing date we found it had been made in 1937.

Given the fact that I bought the camera in Bavaria one can only imagine what it has “seen” (or not) and recorded (or not) through all these years.


Kinja'd!!! cazzyodo > AuthiCooper1300
03/15/2016 at 13:39

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Pity you couldn’t get a good once over of the lighter.

On the camera front, my grandfather once pulled out an assortment of old cameras when I told him I was taking a film photography course at school. I couldn’t use any of them because none, and I mean none, shot in 24mm. I need to go look at those again because he was born in 1928 and I’m sure some belonged to his parents, even.


Kinja'd!!! AuthiCooper1300 > cazzyodo
03/15/2016 at 13:49

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I’ll get back in touch with him about the lighter.

He’s a bit disorganised so it wouldn’t surprise me if he has actually found it since then (of course he may have lost it again!) Rest assured I’ll post a picture if I manage to see that very cool (but somehow sad) Zippo again.

So interesting what you say about the old cameras! Maybe somewhere in the world there is film stock in that format?