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.
Hi Vance, I have a friend that was in this task force. He is questioning if there is anyway to get one of these patches now? Or if it was only available as a souvenir back then.
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