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  View original topic: DoD sticker question
catahoula lou Sun Dec 01, 2013 6:04 pm

While cleaning a used windshield for my lowlight, I noticed a DoD sticker on it with what appears to be the license plate of the car it came from. Also, looks like it has a companion sticker dating to 1996 (see photo).



The Zertifikat for my 1959 (Sept 1958 build) lowlight coupe states that it was shipped to Wiesbaden Germany (not US) and originally had US-type bumpers (over-riders), so it was likely bought by a US serviceman serving in Germany and then imported to the US when he returned. Also bought a white on green "US Services in Europe" license plate that was similar to what was likely on the car while in Germany.

Was the same style of DoD sticker used back in 1958-1959 for US services serving in Europe?

I ask this because, if so, I would like to keep it and change the license plate number.

What a coincidence, if this works out!

Best,

Thom

Gary Sun Dec 01, 2013 6:12 pm

DoD decals were much different back then. The style on your vehicle is a bit different than when I was in the service from 1987-1994. The "companion sticker" is the date in which the decal expires. The main sticker isn't a tag number, just a serial number that identifies the vehicle and the owner authorized to drive the vehicle on a military installation.

Those decals tend to fade over time no matter what, not to mention the Government changes them up every few years. I have been working at an FAA facility for 12 years and the campus decals have changed three times.

Long story short, it's not a period sticker.

catahoula lou Sun Dec 01, 2013 6:56 pm

Dayum...

Thanks, though!

zozo Sun Dec 01, 2013 8:54 pm

After 9/11 some of the bases did away with them since they mark your car as a "target", and they check ID at the gate anyway. Not to mention that many, many people sold their car with the stickers still on them. That would give the new owner a small degree of credibility if they were pleading the "I lost my ID" argument, since you have to get on base to get a new one. I hated them because I didn't like sticking them on my car as they're a pain to get off.

Campmobile Chris74 Mon Dec 02, 2013 10:53 pm

I bought a 1956 Oval Window Rag Top from an Army Colonel back in the '80s. It had a DoD sticker with a "full bird" emblem which I neglected to remove. I was a PFC (E-3) and got a kick watching everyone who saw the sticker salute me as I drive by, including Officers.

Sketchy_1 Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:10 am

Campmobile Chris74 wrote: I was a PFC (E-3) and got a kick watching everyone who saw the sticker salute me as I drive by, including Officers.

Sorry, doesn't work that way. They never salute the person in the car...they always salute the sticker itself. Saluting the sticker is a professional representation of protocol to the person who rates it. Officers are smart enough to know that a colonel isn't the age of a PFC.

Campmobile Chris74 Tue Dec 03, 2013 3:07 am

Sketchy_1 wrote: Campmobile Chris74 wrote: I was a PFC (E-3) and got a kick watching everyone who saw the sticker salute me as I drive by, including Officers.

Sorry, doesn't work that way. They never salute the person in the car...they always salute the sticker itself. Saluting the sticker is a professional representation of protocol to the person who rates it. Officers are smart enough to know that a colonel isn't the age of a PFC.

Sketchy_1 wrote: they always salute the sticker itself
They saw the Colonel sticker and they saluted. Even the MPs at the gate saluted. They were saluting the sticker. I was in the car so I saluted back (as a PFC)

lawn ninja Sat Dec 07, 2013 11:16 pm

That's a fairly recent DoD sticker. It also usually has a month on one side and a year sticker on the other.



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