Vintage 1st CAVALRY DIVISION VIETNAM ZIPPO LIGHTER

This is the original 1967 vintage brass zippo. But it need minor repair- need to do minor welding to the top flip.
This zippo is used by the Vietnam veteran 1st cavalry division during 1968 - 69.
Price:RM180

Vintage Vietnam ZIPPO Lighter 1st CAVALRY DIVISION 1967

Original Vietnam ZIPPO lighter 1967
1st CAVALRY DIVISION
The ZIPPO you are looking at is a 100% genuine ZIPPO lighter made in BRADFORD PA.
The front of the lid on this lighter has been engraved with
VIETNAM 68-69
BAI BON

Also engraved on the front is an insignia for the
1st CAVALRY DIVISION
US ARMY

The Vietnam War was when the division next saw combat. By this time, it was no longer an infantry unit, but an air assault division, using helicopters . The division was re-roled in this way in early 1965 , and left for Vietnam later that year. The unit, along with the 101st Airborne Division perfected new tactics and doctrine for helicopter-borne assaults over the next five years in Vietnam.

The unit's first major operation was the Pleiku Campaign . During this action, the division conducted 35 days of continuous airmobile operations. The opening battle, the Battle of Ia Drang Valley , was described in the book We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young which was also the basis of the subsequent Mel Gibson film We Were Soldiers . The unit also earned the first Presidential Unit Citation (US) presented to a division during the Vietnam War.

Most of 1967 was spent in Operation Pershing . This was a large scale search of areas in the II Corps are which saw 5,400 enemy killed and 2,000 captured. Moving to Camp Evans, north of Hue, in the I Corps zone, the division finshed out the Tet Offensive . 1st Cavalry Division was involved in liberating Quang Tri and Hue . After the intense fighting in Hue, the division then moved to relieve the Marine Corps units at the besieged base of Khe Sanh . Following the Relief of Khe Sanh in March of 1968, the 1st Cavalry Division was dispatched from Camp Evans, northwest of Hue, into a major, month long operation in the Ashau Valley ( mid-April through mid-May). From May until September of 1968 a period of local pacification and "MedCap" (Medical outreach programs to offer medical support to the Vietnamese) missions in the I CORP to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese population. treat the local population. In late September early October, the 1st Cavalry Division moved most of it strength south to the III Corps area northwest of Saigon, commonly referred to as the "Parrots Beak" due to the shape of the Viet Nam border with Cambodia.

In 1970, a change of pace in the war occurred. The division was among the American units that crossed the border into Cambodia , increasing the extent of the ground war quite considerably. However, relatively shortly tafter, American units withdrew from the country. American units were also leaving Vietnam in large numbers, and by 1973, all were out. 1st Cavalry Division left during 1972

The back of this lighter is engraved with the

I LOVE THE F_CKING ARMY AND THE ARMY LOVES F_CKING ME
The bottom of this ZIPPO has the date stamp for 1967

The  lighters is 100% genuine and come complete with original Zippo insert in full working condition. But minor repair for the top flip. (Maybe a minor welding)