Vietnam War Soldiers Florida Flag flown at Cmp Radcliff 1st CAV DIV (Airmobile)

Description: For your consideration is this beautiful early 1960’s Florida State Flag. This flag was manufactured by Dettra Flag Company under the BULLDOG Bunting trade name. The DETCO Process is a higher grade of screen printing at the time. This flag has a nice patina. It’s obviously been smoked around, so it’s yellowed from the smoke. The flag measures 3 ft by 5 ft. It’s made of cotton with a Cavas header. There are 2 brass grommets in the header. This flag predates the 1972 Dettra Bulldog Bunting type that is seen all over the place. You can tell by the shield that this flag is the late 1950’s to 1960’s type. These flags are extremely rare and to have 1st Cavalry DIV (Airmobile) with the 1st Cavalry Division shield drawn on the header is a true piece of history for the 1st Cavalry Division as this is when the Air Cavalry was born. You may never see anything like this again. On the reverse header of the flag it is written: “ 1st CAVALRY (AIRMOBILE) Camp Radcliff Vietnam 1965” CAMP RADCLIFF aka The Golf Course Camp Radcliff was established in late August 1965 by the 70th Engineer Battalion as the base camp for the 1st Cavalry Division. The camp was located on the main highway, QL-19, 60 kilometres (37 mi) northwest of Qui Nhơn on the coast and 60 kilometres (37 mi) southeast of Pleiku in the Central Highlands. The camp was named after 1/9 Cavalry Major Donald Radcliff, the 1st Cavalry's first combat death, who was killed on 18 August 1965 while supporting U.S. Marines in his helicopter gunship during Operation Starlite. In order to reduce the amount of rotor-blown dust on the landing zone, the men of the 1st Cavalry Division's advance party were instructed to cut back foliage to ground level by hand giving the base its nickname of the Golf Course. The division also painted their distinctive insignia on nearby Hon Cong Mountain providing a landmark visible for many miles. Camp Radcliff was the largest helicopter base in the world at the time of its establishment, capable of accommodating the division's 400+ helicopters. The base also had an airfield to the south east called An Khe Airfield capable of landing Lockheed C-130A Hercules aircraft. The base had a perimeter of 26 km known as the Green Line with 3-man watchtowers every 50m. On the night of 3 September 1966 the Viet Cong carried out a mortar attack on the Golf Course. Starting at 21:50 the base was hit by 119 mortar rounds over a 5-minute period, killing 4 soldiers and wounding a further 76, while 77 helicopters were damaged. Other units stationed at Camp Ra dcliff in this period included: •Company B, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion •A detachment of 15th Medical Battalion with UH-1D Huey •2nd Battalion, 17th Artillery •3rd Battalion, 18th Artillery •2nd Battalion, 19th Artillery •1st Battalion, 21st Artillery •2nd Surgical Hospital •15th Transportation Corps Battalion Aircraft Maintenance Support (September 1965 – 1968) •509th Signal Battalion On 12 March 1967 a USAF C-130 crashed on takeoff from the base airfield.

Price: 350 USD

Location: Chesnee, South Carolina

End Time: 2024-09-28T04:10:05.000Z

Shipping Cost: 20 USD