How do you set a Vietnam era ASU?

2019-02-26T14:32:48-05:00

For friend's grandpa who is sick. Trying to restore as a gift.

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Feb 26 at 2019 2:37 PM

2019-02-26T14:37:44-05:00

The Green Service Uniform is relatively unchanged since the 1958 inception until it was phased out in 2013/14. It changed shade a number of times. The current 670-1 will be close enough. Getting a back copy of 670-1 and I believe 670-2 will be tough. The fundamentals are the same.

My concern would be having it cleaned without it disintegrating.

Do you have the DD214 to set it up? You'll have to get OD backed overseas service bars and service stripes. Unit awards will be the most difficult to piece together. The color patches are still readily available either from insignia suppliers or surplus stores like Eagles Of War in Clarksville TN.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 26 at 2019 2:43 PM

2019-02-26T14:43:24-05:00

SGT Private RallyPoint Member Does your friend have access to his grandfathers medals/ribbons, awards, rank, etc.? If he has his grandfathers DD-214, that will list the medals earned.

https://www.google.com/search?q=military+asu+uniform+setup&tbm=isch&source=hp&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjyo-Swk9rgAhUOvp4KHTmSB_cQsAR6BAgFEAE&biw=1920&bih=931

military asu uniform setup - Google Search

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Feb 26 at 2019 2:46 PM

2019-02-26T14:46:38-05:00

SGT Private RallyPoint Member What a Beautiful Challenge to Take On!

Response by PVT Mark Zehner made Feb 26 at 2019 3:12 PM

2019-02-26T15:12:40-05:00

The VFW helped a friend of mine do his Grandfathers !

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 26 at 2019 3:29 PM

2019-02-26T15:29:15-05:00

Once you know what awards are on the DD214, use one of the online sites to makes it easier to determine the proper order for the awards (and difference between unit awards and personal awards). I've included a link to Rackbuilder, but there are others.
They also have shadow box builders.
You may find a used version of the uniform at a military surplus store, local or online.
Great project.
https://www.ezrackbuilder.com/rack-builder/home

EzRackBuilder - Regulation Rack Builder for all Military Branches & Shadow Box Builder

Rack Builder - The Ez Rack Builder Sets in Correct Order Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Ribbon Racks. Orders ship within 24 Hours.

Response by Patricia Overmeyer made Feb 26 at 2019 5:07 PM

2019-02-26T17:07:17-05:00

PFC (Anonymous): That looks rather dusty and in need of a pressing. Before you take that to a dry cleaner, make sure they do proper restoration of older uniforms, wedding dresses, etc. Otherwise, you are going to end up with one severely screwed up uniform. You can always ask the dry cleaner if they do restoration dry cleaning of period pieces or you can ask around at local places, like an historical society, historical museum, etc. to get good information on who to use to dry clean it.
After it is fully restored, make sure that it is not kept in a plastic bag (from the dry cleaner or suit bag used for traveling), plastic anything. This disintegrates the fabric, including the ribbons. It's better to put it in a black shadow box or a wedding dress preservation box. Ask your local dry cleaner for the wedding dress/wedding tuxedo preservation box. Or you can get a suit bag that is made from cloth, preferably cotton or cotton blend.
My husband still has his old uniform, although he couldn't fit into after he was home for 3 months (long story short, he lost 35-40 pounds in Nam humping). When we got married I transferred it to a cloth suit bag and kept it in the closet away from dust, sunlight, etc. It's still in beautiful condition. Best of luck to you and what a wonderful surprise.

Response by SPC John Smith made Feb 26 at 2019 8:07 PM

2019-02-26T20:07:50-05:00

Very noble deed. I too would like to recreate my father's Navy uniform if anyone can help.