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The passenger side of my M813A1 bed has this dragon stencil painted in black. Has anyone seen this or know what it represents? A unit? A shop? a rebuild facility?
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Does anyone have a dragon stencil painted on their truck?
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red
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Mine. Not rebuild related, probably a shop thing I'm guessing.
74M35A2
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It means your dog bones are going to fall off.
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haha. Does the dragon indicate a truck built on a Monday or Friday??
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We have an M901 at the Museum that has that same dragon on it. We lightly sanded it to bring the image out better and made a copy of it. I'll snap a pic next time i'm there.
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Chemical corps has used a dragon since the flame thrower days.
Also if there is a D on your right side bumper when looking at your truck could be a logo for D company ie Delta Dragons.
Red I have seen yours before, not this and it may be for a support Battalion
Or a unit in 18th Air borne Corps
71st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade
Also if there is a D on your right side bumper when looking at your truck could be a logo for D company ie Delta Dragons.
Red I have seen yours before, not this and it may be for a support Battalion
Or a unit in 18th Air borne Corps
71st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade
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74M35A2
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Thanks for the pic examples. If I build and mount a flame thrower on my 925a2 LWS (legal in civilian world, but against Geneva Convention rules in military use?), I'll now add a dragon.....somewhere.
red
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Good find, who knows with the exact history on these trucks haha. Bumper numbers are for field artillery. 631 1/114, SV93. Truck was built in 1972 and DRMO'd in 2008 so 36 years of service as a wrecker.
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Do you happen to know the history of your truck and who/where it was assigned to?
I found another dragon on the front of my passenger fender...
oboyjohn
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Here is a dragon on a Canadian 72 ton heavy equipment transport trailer that came back from Afghanistan a few years ago.
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I replaced my driver's side seat cushion and the old cushion had a tag that was labeled 'HHC 1-161 INF (M)'
I could not find any dragon clues from this as it led to Washington State Army National Guard. However, looking at pictures of the front bumper letters I can sorta make out a '9-3P-34' or a '9-3-34'. I found that the 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment out of Fort Jackson, SC is nicknamed the 'Leyte Dragons'...this could be a lead!
Since this is a nickname, the dragon doesn't appear on any official flags or crests or decals that I've seen.
Is anyone familiar with Fort Jackson, or the 3/34th or the Leyte Dragons???
I could not find any dragon clues from this as it led to Washington State Army National Guard. However, looking at pictures of the front bumper letters I can sorta make out a '9-3P-34' or a '9-3-34'. I found that the 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment out of Fort Jackson, SC is nicknamed the 'Leyte Dragons'...this could be a lead!
Since this is a nickname, the dragon doesn't appear on any official flags or crests or decals that I've seen.
Is anyone familiar with Fort Jackson, or the 3/34th or the Leyte Dragons???
Some units have Facebook pages now. Maybe you could inquire there. This is really interesting and I'd love to know the origins.
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The 3 M551s we have at the Museum all had a dragon on them. All were hand painted and different. The running Sheridan no longer has the dragon. All of the vehicles were recovered from NTC OPFOR, I believe at either 29 palms or Barstow, Ft Irwin.
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Very interesting - thanks for posting up those pics Will. I don't believe my truck is a USMC truck since it has no fording kit or lockers so that probably rules out a 29 Palms origin. My coworker was stationed at 29 Palms so I may quiz him on their dragon symbol...
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I've been working on restoring the dragon stencils on my truck.
I used pin striping tape to outline the original with help from a large paint chip I saved from the pressure washer. Covered with this special massive masking tape and cut along the orange background with an exacto.
The side of the bed still needs a fresh dragon, but it first need some new 383 green background paint.
I used pin striping tape to outline the original with help from a large paint chip I saved from the pressure washer. Covered with this special massive masking tape and cut along the orange background with an exacto.
The side of the bed still needs a fresh dragon, but it first need some new 383 green background paint.
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Duh, don't know why I did think of this early, but A lot of Company level units have used it as part of their radio call signs. A, Alpha cpmpany = all Americain, B Bravo =brave heart, C Charlie = Cougar, D Delta= Dragon ect.
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With that being the case, it could be much harder to match up my truck to a specific unit...
Terracoma
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Did the seller ever tell you if they bought the truck out of JBLM, by chance...?
If so, the 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment of the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade is nicknamed the "Dragonslayers" and has had a presence at Fort Lewis (JBLM) for quite some time. The logo on challenge coins issued by 5-5 looks similar to the dragon that's painted on your fender. See below.
If so, the 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment of the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade is nicknamed the "Dragonslayers" and has had a presence at Fort Lewis (JBLM) for quite some time. The logo on challenge coins issued by 5-5 looks similar to the dragon that's painted on your fender. See below.
Terracoma
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Only a year and four months late to the party, buuuut......
1st Battalion, 114th Field Artillery Regiment of the 631st Field Artillery Brigade of the Mississippi ARNG... Web search indicates that 1/114 was based out of Greenwood. Deactivated on or around 30 September 2008, which jives with the "08 DRMO" on your hood. Insignias below are for 1/114 and the 631st, respectively.
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