Item:
ONJRPA2218

Original U.S. Vietnam War Pilot’s Uniform Top For “Maj. Pierce” With Avel Central - II Field Force MACV

Item Description

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice, service worn blouse that belonged to a Major C.E. Peirce of Avel Central, II Field Force and 9th Cavalry. The origins of Avel Central begin with the 335th Signal Detachment. The unit was originally formed on 1 January 1966.

Unfortunately we have not been able to find any service information about Major Pierce, but his uniform top tells a story of it’s own. The blouse shows signs of being worn in service, but has no signs of damage or repairs. PIERCE, U.S. ARMY and all other insignia appear to have been embroidered “locally” while in Vietnam. This was a very common request to have been made, it was easier to have your Name and Information embroidered by a local directly to your uniform than to wait to name tapes, insignia replacements etc. The rank and signal corps collar insignia are also embroidered very nicely and retain all of their original colored thread and material. Above U.S. ARMY is a very nice Senior Aviator badge which is embroidered.

The Patches Featured:
-Avel Central: The patch can be found on the front left breast pocket. The patch is very nice and without damage. It shows a picture of the US Army “crossed flags and torch” insignia behind a Huey helicopter.

-Subdued II Force Patch: The patch is located on the left sleeve and appears without damage. The patch is a shield with an arrow inside pointing up, and a sword inside the arrow. II Field Force, Vietnam was a United States Army Corps-level command during the Vietnam War.

Activated on 15 March 1966, it became the largest corps command in Vietnam and one of the largest in Army history. II Field Force was assigned the lineage of the XXII Corps, a World War II corps in the European Theater of Operations. II Field Force was a component of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) and had its headquarters in Long Binh. II Field Force's area of responsibility was III Corps Tactical Zone, later renamed Military Region 3, which comprised eleven provinces surrounding Saigon. This was designed to mimic the ARVN III Corps region. II Field Force controlled units participating in the 1968 Tet Offensive and the 1970 Cambodian Incursion.

-Subdued 1st Cavalry Patch: The patch is located on the right shoulder and is without damage. The 1st Cavalry Division after a long war time lineage was called up to fight in the Vietnam War. No longer a conventional infantry unit, the division had become an air assault division as the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), commonly referred to as the 1st Air Cavalry Division. The use of helicopters on such a large scale as troop carriers, cargo lift ships, medevacs, and as aerial rocket artillery, was never before implemented, but by doing so it freed the infantry from the tyranny of terrain to attack the enemy at the time and place of its choosing. In 1965, colors and subordinate unit designations of the division were transferred from Korea to Fort Benning, Georgia, where they were used, along with separate elements of what had been the 2nd Infantry Division, to reflag the existing 11th Air Assault Division (Test) into the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Concurrently, the personnel and units of the 1st Cavalry Division, which remained in Korea, were used to reflag the division into a new 2nd Infantry Division.

This jacket is a beautiful example of a seldom seen Avel Central patched uniform top. Even though we were unable to pinpoint service information for Major Pierce, it doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be able to! This is a great research opportunity. Comes ready to display.

Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV)
U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was a joint-service command of the United States Department of Defense.

MACV was created on 8 February 1962, in response to the increase in United States military assistance to South Vietnam. MACV was first implemented to assist the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) Vietnam, controlling every advisory and assistance effort in Vietnam, but was reorganized on 15 May 1964 and absorbed by MAAG Vietnam to its command when combat unit deployment became too large for advisory group control. MACV was disestablished on 29 March 1973 and replaced by the Defense Attaché Office (DAO), Saigon. The DAO performed many of the same roles of MACV within the restrictions imposed by the Paris Peace Accords until the Fall of Saigon.

The first commanding general of MACV (COMUSMACV), General Paul D. Harkins, was also the commander of MAAG Vietnam, and after reorganization was succeeded by General William C. Westmoreland in June 1964, followed by General Creighton W. Abrams (July 1968) and General Frederick C. Weyand (June 1972).

 

Measurements: 
Collar to shoulder: 9.5”
Shoulder to sleeve: 22.5”
Shoulder to shoulder: 18”
Chest width: 19”
Waist width: 19”
Hip width: 20.5”
Front length: 30.5"

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