African American Quartermaster, WWII

Since February is Black History Month, I figured I would share this picture I found at an antique store this weekend.   This guy doesn't have much insignia to speak of, really just a Quartermaster collar disk.  But, I thought the picture had a lot of character.  Probably dates from 1942 or 1943 since he has a khaki tie but still wears a brown leather belt.

United Nations Command, South Korea patches

While this organization technically came into being in 1950, it seems like this insignia didn't come about until a bit later (August of 1957 according to Chris Aleck's "Authorized Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the US Army").   Shown here are three different variations, probably all from the late 1950's or 1960's.   The left two are both Korean made, while the one on the right is an American made example.

AAF Flexible Gunnery School, Fort Myers Florida

I've been after one of these for a while now and was finally lucky enough to get one.   Embarrassingly, I didn't know exactly what the "F.G.S" stood for.  Fighter Gunnery School, perhaps?  That wouldn't make sense, only fighter pilots would need that and this clearly has an enlisted air gunners wing on it (very different from a pilot).  After some snooping around I found it.  Flexible.  Of course.  Basically meaning that the gunner can move the gun around himself, as opposed to a gun that is mounted to the aircraft in a fixed direction (like on a fighter plane).

The Army Air Forces Flexible Gunnery School at Fort Myers Florida was started in 1942 and closed down at the end of the war.   All I need to find now is a photograph showing this patch actually being worn.  I think it was most likely a cuff patch, since that was the standard location for flight instructor patches at that time.  Anyone out there know?

ODA 3113: Afghanistan

A friend of mine picked this patch up for me at FOB Salerno, Afghanistan in February of 2010.  It is from Special Forces ODA 3113.  In normal people words that means Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha (i.e. "A-Team") #3,  A Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group.

A quick look through ebay shows that modern SF ODA patches are already becoming the minefield of fakes and knock-offs that Vietnam era SF insignia have been for decades.  But this one is real and I even know the exact shop it was made in.  By the way, I have no clue what the "VBD" means.

While the exact missions of ODAs are not overtly publicized, it is most likely that these guys were partnered with (i.e. working with and training) Afghan Army Commando's operating in Khowst province near the Pakistani border.  Below is a photograph found at militaryphotos.net showing part of an ODA from 3rd Group at FOB Salerno in April 2010.  Are they ODA 3113?  Who knows.

Note the modified BDU's worn with Afghan Army insignia, including the Afghan National flag and the Afghan Commando patch.  An example (which my wife begged off of a Special Operations medic for me while we were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009) is shown below.

Task Force 201: Beirut 1958

In the long history of US military foreign interventions, especially in the middle east, the story of "Operation Blue Bat" and the US Army Task Force 201 has pretty much been forgotten.  

In July 1958 it looked like Lebanon (a US ally at the time) would descend into a civil war, caused by increased tension between moderate christians and muslims.   Lebanon had a moderate, pro-western government at the time.  Fearing that his government would topple to a muslim rebellion, the Lebanese President called on the US for help.  

Enter "Operation Blue Bat".  US Army Europe already had a contingency plan for rapidly deploying forces to respond to a crisis in the mid-east.   The plan called for nearly 14,000 Soldiers and Marines, with most of the Army personnel coming from the 24th Airborne Brigade of the 24th Division.   The Army element was known as "Task Force 201".  The US Soldiers and Marines arrived in Lebanon in late July of 1958 and were there until October of that year. 

The patch shown here was made as a souvenir of the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment's (aka the "Rakkasans") participation in Task Force 201.  The 187th was part of the 24th Division's Airborne Brigade at that time.  

Second Service Command

The Second Service Command was established in the summer of 1941 in order to manage the administrative, logistical, and support activities in the area formally controlled by the II Corps (New York and New Jersey), while II Corps mobilized and trained to go overseas.  The WACs shown here are wearing the Second Service Command patch first authorized on 14 October 1941.  Note the WAC on the right has her patch sewn on backwards!   Also shown here is an earlier version of this patch made with an olive drab border.

  

(National Park Service Photo)

56th Company, Coast Artillery Corps 1912

I found these two 1912 dated real picture post cards (RPPC) at a flea market this past weekend.   The portrait is identified to "Frank Yost, Co 56, Fort Hancock, NJ".   I figured this must be some sort of Militia designation, since this guy was clearly an artilleryman of some sort and I had never known combat arms branches to use numbered companies (let alone Artillery, which is know for using the term "battery" in place of "company").  So this was a mystery that I felt I needed to get to the bottom of.

So here's the story:

In 1901 the Coast Artillery (as in sea coast) was organized into a series of 126 consecutively numbered companies.  Batteries were fixed positions of guns, companies were organizations of soldiers.  Each Company could have up to 109 men and NCOs, and could operate more than one battery.

So Artilleryman Yost shown here was in fact a member of the 56th Company, Coast Artillery Corps.   In 1912 he and his Company were stationed at Fort Hancock New Jersey, part of the harbor defenses for New York Harbor.  This Fort had the first battery of so-called "disappearing guns" in the USA.   The Fort is now part of the Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway National Recreation Area, and many of the coastal defense works can still be seen today.  For more info click here.

The inscription on the bottom of this photo reads" " -In Camp- Cooks and K.P.s of 56th Co, C. ARTY Fort Hancock NJ AUG 1912"

Battery Potter, Fort Hancock as seen today (NPS Photo)

Ike's SHAEF- Strategic Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces

It's not often that history passes down to us a close up image of the insignia worn by powerful generals and world leaders.  Somehow LIFE photographer David Scherman had the foresight to take a close up of Dwight D. Eisenhower's shoulder patch during a photo session that created the April 16, 1945 cover of LIFE Magazine.  Ike clearly has a very nice english made version, hand sewn to his custom made "Ike" jacket.  I assume it was hand sewn by his tailor, as hand stitching of patches was a common practice for fine english tailors of that time.

Shown below is a somewhat similar english made SHAEF patch (from my personal collection).  The detail in Ike's looks to have been rendered more finely.

(Pictures used solely for educational purposes)