donw
160 posts
Feb 18, 2012
11:58 AM
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When I was a 5th to 7th grader in Belmont in the late 60s, I remember that half of the guys in my classes would be wearing their older brother's or some relative's Army jacket.
That style/fad just vanished over a few years, like by 1971-72. I have a class photo take in late '71 and it shows about five of the guys in my class still wearing Army jackets. I think they stopped wearing them when they went on to high school.
You see this in quite a few period movies of the time. (It was even referenced in the classic Star Trek episode "Miri" where you see the oldest kid in the bunch on another planet wearing what is obviously an Army jacket with Sergeant's stripes.)
I always took it as a combination "look at me, I'm a tough kid" gesture and a mild Vietnam protest comment.
This is something that has not been seen in our culture since. I have never seen it mentioned since then, either. It was just something that was part of the landscape, like drive-in movies.
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driver62
398 posts
Feb 18, 2012
1:17 PM
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I still have my old field jacket but with AF stripes on it. And no, I'm not protesting anything and I don't think the kids back then were either. It was just something cool to wear.
By the way, I got out of the AF in 1971 after serving 12 years.
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wolfcreek
40 posts
Feb 18, 2012
8:12 PM
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I still have an army jacket, not the same one I wore back then, but similar. Peace symbol on the lapel.
And I don't think the fad stopped in 71 or 72. At Chaminade high school army jackets were worn all through the 70s. A stoner hippie thing, I suppose, but pretty cool. We'd get our surplus gear at the Army/Navy story by the main public library downtown, on 2nd street near Jefferson, if memory serves. This was long before the surplus store turned into big outdoor gear store. During the army/navy days, it was just a cluttered little hole in the wall.
Army fatigue pants were even more popular during that time. Our "uniforms" at C-J demanded: Levi's cords (we weren't allowed to wear jeans to school) or green Army fatigues (preferably the kind with side cargo pockets)...
Last Edited by on Feb 20, 2012 9:06 PM
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donw
161 posts
Feb 18, 2012
8:39 PM
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Driver62: I'm talking specifically about kids who were in elementary and high school in the late 60s and early 70s. Not returning veterans such as yourself.
Wolfcreek: Yeah, you are describing exactly what the scene was like then in school. There was almost always a peace symbol stenciled on the jacket or something on the jacket was replaced with antiwar stuff.
I think most of the boys who wore Army jackets had brothers (usually) or other family members serving in Vietnam. My brother was in Vietnam then but I was too much of a dweeb to ask for an old jacket. :) I didn't realize that General Surplus was supplying the stuff as a fashion commodity.
Last Edited by on Feb 18, 2012 8:40 PM
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Brian Hobbs
8 posts
Feb 19, 2012
4:25 AM
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We wore Army jackets in High School in the 80's. There were quit a few of us too! Some were their fathers, but most were from the surplus store downtown.
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wolfcreek
41 posts
Feb 20, 2012
9:05 PM
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I'm reminded also of the work boots we wore in the '70s. Most of us never did a hard day's labor in our lives, but we sure loved those work boots. They weren't quite the big, chunky styles of today -- no thick soles, just lace-up, very cool boots. I'd love to find that brand today, actually. Boys & girls both wore them.
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bentz
54 posts
Feb 21, 2012
5:22 AM
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John Lennon wore his army jacket a lot in his peace protest in the early 70's.
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RickD
30 posts
May 06, 2012
8:40 PM
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Still have my Army shirt and field jacket from VietNam.
When I got home in March '72 I sewed an ecology flag on one upper pocket flap, a patch "VietNam Veterans Against The War on that pocket, and a Monsieur Zig Zag patch on the other upper pocket. Added a 33 Beer patch to one shoulder (upper arm), a peace pin, and Beatles pin where the ribbons would go. Wore it until the elbows were worn out. Doesn't fit anymore. Ahahaha.
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LHelton
32 posts
May 07, 2012
2:42 PM
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Students wore them over here in Butler County at Edgewood in the late 70s and early 80s. I was not allowed too, as the family viewed that as wrong if you had not earned the right to wear one. My grandpa was in WWII, one uncle was in Korea, another uncle in Viet-Nam.
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DaytonDennis
35 posts
May 27, 2012
5:21 PM
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Rick, I don't know how you were able to get your field jacket back from Vietnam. I served there from March '69 to May '71, with 5th SFGA and they had the coolest unit patch. But in March 71, the "colors" came home (though the unit basically stayed there under "USARV Training Support" LOL. But THEIR unit patch was basis USARV and that was what I was issued on a class A uniform to process out of the Army. I didn't care, just glad to come home. Funny thing was that I was wearing my class A jacket at Simple Simon's in downtown Dayton and some American Legion guy came up and tried to nicely tell me that is was illegal to wear a jacket in that manner. I responded with "If you really gave a **** about me, you'd try to bring my arse home!!!" LOL, that certainly through him off stride, but now, older and much wiser, I am proud of my service and when I think those uniforms symbolize men who gave their time for their country... awell.
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