greg.hays

Next up is a nicely worn Assman.

Reverse

Next is his L/51 cousin quite possibly.

Reverse

Love this thread, these are my absolute favorites. Here is a nice "UU" in bronze.

This one is a so called Junker I believe due to the inlaid catch plate. Either way I like it alot.

Reverse

My first contribution to this thread. A nice RS wide pin in Bronze.

Thanks Mike, no third tour for me I ETS in April . I'll post more as soon as it's scanned.

Looks like your Iraqi collection is realy growing fast, nice medal group Greg...are you going back for a third tour ?

Well worn AK-47 bayonet with unit stamping on the leather. I learned this year from a translator who was in the Iraqi Army that stamping on the leather indicates the piece was issued. If you don't see it then the item was likely confiscated froma depoty before being issued to the soldier.

Some shoulder patches, the bottom one I am pretty sure is from an armor unit. Top two I have no clue yet.

I just had a look at your site, absolutely top notch. All the medals are identified except the one with the Orange and White ribbon. The design is that of the Nut-Thurath 17 Tamuz/ 17 July Revolution 1968. What do you think. Also each of the medals is maker marked I'll try to get a good scan. The story (and you know how that goes) is that this was put together for the family of an older veteran years ago. The man died and the son who was in Sadaam's Army kept it for himself. He worked for KBR and I traded him some of my stuff for some of his military stuff. How they all have incorrect ribbons is now a mystery.

Interesting medals, especially interesting in that most are on incorrect (fantasy) ribbons.

Some more branch insignia.

Next up is some branch insignia. Again unless otherwise stated these all came directly from former Iraqi military. I had a chance to meet a number of former military as they were employed by KBR and helped organize a lot of KBR security.

Hi all, just starting to go through a lot of things I picked up in Iraq and I figured I'd share some the more interesting things. First up are some medals. These were mounted for the recipient on a nice piece of black velvet and placed in an embossed presentation case. Unfortunately the case has suffered serious damage in shipping and I'm currently attempting to restore it.

Hi David, it's a good RS. Not to easy to find in bronze either so definitely a good score.

Definitely odd. One thing I picked up while I was down there is that most Sadaam era militaria will be decorated with either the Iraqi national eagle or the Iraqi national symbol. The national symbol is a traingle with another half of a triangle on top. I have seen very few exceptions to this.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ceremonial-Sword-Ira...1QQcmdZViewItem

Looks like a monkeyed with Kreigsmarine dagger to me ?

Hi Ed, very good to know. Unfortunately confusing the matter even further. Here is the kicker. I have Republican Gaurd uniforms from OIFI that I know are genuine. I have dress uniforms that I know are genuine that I found now during OIF3, but the decorations are glued on to the uniforms to manufacture high ranking highly decorated examples. So the dilemma is I may have genuine medals on genuine uniforms or I may have fake medals on genuine uniforms or.....................see where I am going. And then besides which they glued the medals to the uniforms staining them .

Hi Ed, Paul and everyone. This issue of wrong ribbons is really what is driving me nuts. I come across many medals down here that seem to be mixed and matched. The lead castings are easy to id, but a lot of times you find medals with dubious ribbons glued to them, that otherwise look genuine. It's very frustrating.

This sign gives it away.... I love Belgium and my wife was kind enough to indulge me on the way home from Brussels.

Just down the road from that bunker I saw this.

Here is one from one of the Low Countries.

This one gives it away.....Omaha Beach. I had a chance to be there on the 60th Anniversary of D-Day. It was quite an experience. Sorry the pics are so small I'm having trouble getting them to fit on my limit.

View of the other exit.

Thanks Paul, that info helps .