This was a souvenir of an 82nd Airborne trooper who served in Operation Just Cause, the US Invasion of Grenada in 1989-90. I suspect it was made in the Soviet Union. The buckle is the classic USSR style as is the belt. Cuba was known to support Noriega. I picked it up at a gun show a few months after it was over, the vendor didnt know the soldiers name.

Thanks for looking,

BKW

 

That's very cool! You don't see much Cuban militaria!

That is nice. It would go with my Cuban uniform. Rich A. in Pa.

Thanks for the comments guys. Your correct, Cuban militaria is a bit hard to find in the US. I'm pretty sure I got a Cuban Army shirt from the same vendor, from the same vet, but not sure where it is at the moment. I think it was 1992, when I was in the Indiana National Guard, my platoon was the OPFOR for the battalion for annual training at Camp Grayling, Michigan. We were issued AK's that we were told were captured in Grenada. The blanks we used I'm pretty sure were Soviet made and they were really LOUD! They also had quite an impressive muzzle flash! I think I kept an empty box from the blanks, against the rules to keep "brass or ammo". Glad you guys enjoyed seeing it.

Happy New Year!

BKW

The Cuban Army belt and buckle are very nice military souvenirs, but from a historical point, the Grenada operation took place in 1983. The United States invasion of Grenada (Urgent Fury) began on 25 October 1983. The invasion was led by the United States Army Rangers and some of the 82nd Airborne Division parachuting onto the Caribbean island nation of Grenada. The operation resulted in a total U.S. victory within a matter of days. The duration of Operation Urgent Fury was Oct 25, 1983 – Dec 15, 1983. There was most definitely a Cuban military presence on Grenada at that time.

 

Operation Just Cause took place in December 1989 to January 1990 and was the invasion of Panama to topple drug czar Manuel Noriega. I don't recall any Cuban military presence there. Most of the resistance was Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) loyal to dictator Manuel Noriega.

 

Just thought you might want to know.

 

 

 

 

Aw, Nuts! You are correct Triplecanopy. I got my operations mixed up! I should have done more fact checking prior to posting it. My tag said Grenada with the 82nd info, and my silly mind mixed up Panama. Thanks for correcting my dumb error. I hate when I do that!

Again, I really do appreciate you keeping this thread correct!

Regards,

BKW

I'll take a picture of a beret I have... My dad and his business partner operate a fine arts bronze foundry and qualified for an arts and humanities visa and were permitted to legally travel to Cuba in 2000 or so... Right before 9-11. Dad brought that home and a few other things.