OT; FLIEGERFAUST (?)

...
> anyway, he had apparentlly seen the shitstorm up close and personal,
he
> had (i am looing at a photo of his field gray tunic now) a number of
> badges on the left chest,  one that looked kinda like a USN
submarine
> badge (but he was not a seaman) worn above the rest, 

I don't know what the US sub badge looks like. Could it have been the
infantry close assault badge ?
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Orden/Infanterie%20Sturmabzeichen.ht
m
Or the close combat badge ?
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Orden/Nahkampfspange.htm

> ... what i know was
> called a KNIGHT"S CROSS, an IRON CROSS 2/c ribbon,  3 cloth badges
on
> his right arm  that were rectangular boxes wiprofiled tank inside. 

Badges for destroying tanks in close combat:
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Orden/SonderabzeichenPanzerEinzel.ht
m

> on
> the left sleeve were	2 silver  V-shaped chevrons  and a diamond on
a
> dark background.

That would make him a 'Stabsgefreiter' or a long-service
'Obergefreiter':
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Soldat/Heer/Heer.htm
high-ranking corporals

> he was an infantryman, supposedly.
>
> (maybe a corporal of some type?)
>
> anyway, he also wore a smock over this, that i also saw,  which was
an
> ugly-tan w/green-brown jagged shapes on one side, and a grayish
white
> color  the other.

The Wehrmacht winter smock. Reversible, white on one side, splinter
pattern on the other.
http://www.skalman.nu/third-reich/militaria-uniforms-heer-camo-winter.ht
m

> . i think there was some odd looking leafy bars in cloth on the left
> sleeve of this smock.
>
> typical looking battered brown and black leather gear, including a
> holster for a P38, and  machinepistol ammo pouches. some
> big canvas bags that i guessed were apparently used to carry	ammo
for
> the RL (did not look lie BUNDESWEHR breadbags, these were bigger).
>
> the launcher,  as i recall it,  must have been a "B" model of this
> thing; i am petty sure there	were more than 6 barrels. the paint
was
> flaking off from wear, but it was painted an ugly gray green.
>
> he supposed lugged thiis thing around from Normandy, in the
Lorraine,
> and then all the way to HANAU. he supposedly shot down a JABO with
it,
> sharing credit with another RL soldier.

I find it hard to believe he already had it in Normandy, as so few were
produced and those mostly very late in the war. I rather think he
acquired it later, closer to the end of the war. Maybe some confusion
in the re-telling ?

> supposedly the last time he used it was a week or so before he got
back
> to the  farm, when he used it to shoot up some American half tracks
and
> jeeps  that blundered into a roadblock his unit was manning.

Certainly shows that you can use stuff for purposes they were not
originally designed for.

Greetings