Can you identify the origin of this beret flash?
August 23, 2012 4:35 AM   Subscribe

Help me identify this beret flash.

My father gave it to me. I thought it was his but now I'm not sure. I know my dad was a US Army green beret and in the special forces, airborn, but that was at the end of his military career in the late fifties. The patch colors make me think of the German flag, and I know my dad was stationed in Germany for a while. The medal I have no idea about. Anything you can tell me about this beret flash would be greatly appreciated. I'm not finding it on military medal retail sites so now I'm wondering if it was actually his.
posted by Toekneesan to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (5 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: It's the original 10th SFG Europe "Trojan Horse" badge, issued in 1956 and worn on the beret until the flash was issued in 1962.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 4:44 AM on August 23, 2012


Best answer: This google books result suggests it probably is his, a special forces badge used from '56 - '62.
posted by missmagenta at 4:46 AM on August 23, 2012


Best answer: Yup. 10th Special Forces Group Europe (Airborne).
posted by MuffinMan at 5:01 AM on August 23, 2012


Response by poster: Wow. That was fast. Thanks folks. I lost my dad a couple of days ago and I just found this going through some old stuff. I was pretty sure it was his, but didn't know where or how to look it up. It sure is his. Thanks, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
posted by Toekneesan at 5:21 AM on August 23, 2012


Don't know if you'd be interested, but as his next of kin you can look into getting a copy of your dad's military records:

National Personnel Records Center
Military Personnel Records
9700 Page Avenue
St. Louis, Missouri 63132-5100
(The phone number is 314-801-0800; sorry, I don't have the website available right now.)

You can check either by snail-mail or online, with no more information than you already have (his name, birth date, approximate date of service, branch & unit). They can't guarentee to have his records --- there was a massive fire in the records center in July 1973 that wiped out a chunk of 1912-1959 Army and 1947-1963 Air Force personnel records --- but they'll do their best for you.

Take care of yourself; as SLC Mom says, it's hard to lose a parent.
posted by easily confused at 8:55 AM on August 23, 2012


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