Well, heck, as long as this thread is lingering back on the board I might as well mention that I got my nifty titanium lighter and a leather belt pouch to stuff it in. Loads of pyromaniacal fun. Now all have to do is take up smoking.
On to the next toy. Perhaps sea-monkeys or X-Ray spex.
I dug one of dad’s old Zippos out of a drawer. I’m not sure when he got, as when I was a kid he was on the USS Oklahoma City (CLG-5) as the Communications Officer. This lighter has a left-front three-quarter engraving of USS Belle Grove (LSD-2) on the front and the ship’s logo – a green alligator superimposed over a red 2, in a red circle with green “USS BELLE GROVE – THE TWO CAN DO” – on the back. Using the Zippo site I linked to earlier, I see that the date code is for 1959. So I assume he was on LSD-2 before I was born.
The bottom of the brushed steel case is slightly battered, making it a little difficult to make out the three dots on the right side, and there are a couple of minor dings and scratches. But I don’t care. It’s dad’s Zippo.
I also found my old black Zippo, but I can’t make out the date code because of the black paint. Now I just need to find my old brushed-steel Zippo.
BTW: Did anyone send the URL to this thread to Zippo? Maybe they’d respond to the praise by making a Straight Dope Zippo! 