Commando Uncle 5

Photo Credit: Neil Blevins

Faction: Earth Coalition
Nationality: Unknown
First Colorway Appearance: Dropcloth
Figures in Colorway: Dropcloth (1/6, 1/12)

Uncle 5 (either a unit of DCs or just a unique singular DC) was part of a crack group of commando DCs and troops that infiltrated Deimos, a key communication relay for Mars, and took it over. Earth forces held it for 23 days before the Martians were able to retake it.

Decals

Note the U5 on cloth and chest. Photo Credit: Neil Blevins

The main decal of Uncle 5 is U5. This is where the name Uncle 5 comes from but the actual word for the U might be unit instead of uncle. Uncle was probably a nickname given to the unit or the Dropcloth itself. Small U5s can also be found on the arms (back of right and on bicep of left) of the Dropcloth inside of a red circle.

Note broken heart on left shoulder and coffin on left forearm

Two other prominent decals are the broken heart on the Dropcloth's left shoulder and a coffin (found on the back of the cloth and on the left forearm).

Heraldry of the 44th Combat Engineer Battalion

The broken heart also has a small blood drop underneath it. The broken heart could have many meaning from the commando group being heart breakers to the the enemy or possibly being heart broken themselves. In our world their was a military unit that used the broken heart as part of their heraldry. That would be the 44th Combat Engineer Battalion or the Broken Heart Battalion of the US Army. The name Heart Broken comes from the battalion was looking forward to arriving home after being deployed to Japan after WW2. However, while on the boat home, they were redeployed to Korea to help with the Korean War. It was possible the soldiers serving alongside these DCs experienced a similar scenario. They might of been on their way back to Earth but the higher powers said they were going to Deimos instead.

The coffin found on Uncle 5 is an old six panel one (like you see in western movies). Coffins are associated with death and for a commando group that's kind of what they do best (usually with a hint of stealth). It might also be a symbol of how dangerous a commandos work is. Essentially dead men walking depending on the mission. It's hard to see but under the coffin there is the word: he. It could be the initials HE instead of the word he. Who this could be is a mystery to me or what he would be in reference to under the coffin. It might be a reference to death himself (coffin being death and the he referring to his physical form).

Note hash marks on right shoulder

Note hash marks on left shoulder

The last decal found on Uncle 5 is four diagonal lines or hash marks. These could be for possible kills (kill marks). A possible (if loose) real world relation might be the 5th Special Forces Groups beret flash (Commando Uncle 5... 5th Special Forces Group).

5th Special Forces Group's beret flash

Names

Commando Uncle 5: Commando Unit 5