GIl Sanow Posted July 19, 2007 Share #1 Posted July 19, 2007 OK, folks, I am stumped by this one. It is the only one I have ever seen. The star shape somewhat reminds me of the leadership training patches/brassards I have seen, but this guy was in Korea with KMAG, and the symbol at the bottom looks more Japanese. What the heck is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 19, 2007 Share #2 Posted July 19, 2007 Some sort of United Nations patch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIl Sanow Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share #3 Posted July 19, 2007 Some sort of United Nations patch. Or is that a NATO star? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 19, 2007 Share #4 Posted July 19, 2007 Or is that a NATO star? I was looking at the wreath on blue and thinking UN, but that does look like a NATO star. But that symbol at the bottom very much looks like a Japanese language character. Here's the NATO (Kosovo) Medal with wreath and star: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QED4 Posted July 19, 2007 Share #5 Posted July 19, 2007 The NATO star has a ring on it as seen on the medal. The patch is probably the patch of the Korean unit he was attached to as a member the Korean Military Advisory Group Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIl Sanow Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share #6 Posted July 19, 2007 The NATO star has a ring on it as seen on the medal. The patch is probably the patch of the Korean unit he was attached to as a member the Korean Military Advisory Group Actually, I think the guy was CG of KMAG at the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill K Posted July 19, 2007 Share #7 Posted July 19, 2007 Hi, I have an old print out of a Korean War era patch blanket and this patch was on it. Stapled to the back is small tag with 6160 Figther bomber group. I believe the number might be correct but the designation may be wrong. I found 6160th Air Base Group and 6160th Air Base Wing listed these may be the same unit just that the designation changed. In the beginning of the Korean War the 67th & 68th Fighter Interceptor Sq. were part of the 6160th Air Base Wing. This might be a place to start your research. Hope this helps. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIl Sanow Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share #8 Posted July 19, 2007 Hi,I have an old print out of a Korean War era patch blanket and this patch was on it. Stapled to the back is small tag with 6160 Figther bomber group. I believe the number might be correct but the designation may be wrong. I found 6160th Air Base Group and 6160th Air Base Wing listed these may be the same unit just that the designation changed. In the beginning of the Korean War the 67th & 68th Fighter Interceptor Sq. were part of the 6160th Air Base Wing. This might be a place to start your research. Hope this helps. Bill Thanx. Not sure why it would be on an Army MG's shirt though. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY Militaria Posted July 19, 2007 Share #9 Posted July 19, 2007 I spent over an hour searching h net for this patch using the leads provided and found nothing so far. I am going to keep looking now.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY Militaria Posted July 22, 2007 Share #10 Posted July 22, 2007 Still looking for what this could be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY Militaria Posted July 28, 2007 Share #11 Posted July 28, 2007 bttt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY Militaria Posted November 25, 2007 Share #12 Posted November 25, 2007 to the top in case anyone recognizes it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wailuna Posted November 25, 2007 Share #13 Posted November 25, 2007 Actually, I think the guy was CG of KMAG at the time! Why do you think that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY Militaria Posted November 25, 2007 Share #14 Posted November 25, 2007 Here it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wailuna Posted November 25, 2007 Share #15 Posted November 25, 2007 Thanks. I believe General Matthews was Chief of KMAG in late 1950s (c. 1957/58). I can't ID his pocket patch but, if I were you, I would focus my research at the ROK Ministry of Defense level first, then at the Hqs. ROK Army level next. He would have had counterpart relations in those places and wearing counterpart insignia was a common practice in MAAG/MAG assignments everywhere. I am reasonably sure this patch had nothing to do with NATO or the U.N. Command in Korea. The red device at the base of the patch is a Korean gate (as "a gate in a wall"). The anglicized word for gate in Korean is "mun." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwnorma Posted November 25, 2007 Share #16 Posted November 25, 2007 ...that symbol at the bottom very much looks like a Japanese language character. That symbol is not a language character. It is a representation of a Japanese Torii Gate. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
101combatvet Posted November 26, 2007 Share #17 Posted November 26, 2007 Just a guess but he may have been a member of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). Although, Japan and Korea were not part of the alliance he may have had some sort of affiliation. Or, there may have been another treaty organization that covered the northwestern pacific rim that included Japan and Korea, Korea-Japan Treaty of 1965? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11-Bull Posted November 27, 2007 Share #18 Posted November 27, 2007 While I have no definite info on this patch, in the interest of helping to ID it I have included a pic of old postal covers showing early NATO and SEATO emblems from this period. Great forum, good luck on ID! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wailuna Posted December 4, 2007 Share #19 Posted December 4, 2007 OK, folks, I am stumped by this one. It is the only one I have ever seen. The star shape somewhat reminds me of the leadership training patches/brassards I have seen, but this guy was in Korea with KMAG, and the symbol at the bottom looks more Japanese. What the heck is it? This mystery has me stumped, too. Here is an extract of the relevant years from Gen. Matthews' official biography: He spent at year at SHAPE (in France at the time) from November 1954 until November 1955 before he was Chief of KMAG from May 1957 until July 1959. His final assignment after KMAG was at First Army, from which he was retired in 1963. He died in 1981. It is possible that the unidentified pocket patch on this uniform had something to do with his SHAPE assignment (but why was it on his uniform a year and a half later?) Note, however, that the star in the patch does not match the NATO star (the colors are reversed) and what possible connection does the red gate symbol have with NATO or SHAPE, whether the gate is Korean or Japanese? And, finally, judging from its picture, this patch does not appear to be made of fine quality materials or construction....not what I would expect to see in a European made patch worn by the SHAPE brass. I still think this patch most likely has a Korean origin connected with Gen. Matthews' counterpart relationship with the ROK Army. As you say, "What the heck is it?" Be sure to post here when (if) you ever find the answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
36-tex Posted December 9, 2007 Share #20 Posted December 9, 2007 In the April-June 1990 ASMIC Trading Post there is a DI of this patch listed in the UNKNOWN section. The metal DI is Japanese made. Not sure if this helps, but thought I would add to the conversation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wailuna Posted December 9, 2007 Share #21 Posted December 9, 2007 In the April-June 1990 ASMIC Trading Post there is a DI of this patch listed in the UNKNOWN section. The metal DI is Japanese made. Not sure if this helps, but thought I would add to the conversation. I am impressed by your enterprise. Finding that old unknown in Trading Post most surely required a lot of dusty page turning on your part (or you have a phenomenal memory). In any event, it looks like we are in good company: If the late Jay Massaro didn't know what it was, there's not much hope for we rookies. But thanks for the clue...the chase is on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted December 10, 2007 Share #22 Posted December 10, 2007 Here's a thought... On Wikipedia I found reference to a War Memorial of Korea which appears to be a pretty substantial museum. I followed their link on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Memorial_%28Seoul%29 There is a link on their home page for ENGLISH. You might consider writing them at the address at the bottom of their page and see if they have record of the insignia. This would not be the first time that two unrelated military activities used a similar insignia. Photo provided by Wikepedia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY Militaria Posted December 10, 2007 Share #23 Posted December 10, 2007 Thanks for the leads everyone! Hopefully, I can nail this one down soon! Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wailuna Posted December 10, 2008 Share #24 Posted December 10, 2008 Here is another "birthday party" for an ID that has never been made. USMF membership has more than doubled since this thread fell asleep a year ago...can anyone ID Maj. Gen. Matthews' pocket patch this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr-X Posted December 10, 2008 Share #25 Posted December 10, 2008 Here's a thought... On Wikipedia I found reference to a War Memorial of Korea which appears to be a pretty substantial museum. I followed their link on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Memorial_%28Seoul%29 There is a link on their home page for ENGLISH. You might consider writing them at the address at the bottom of their page and see if they have record of the insignia. This would not be the first time that two unrelated military activities used a similar insignia. Photo provided by Wikepedia. I went to the War Memorial of Korea in April this year. It is truly massive in terms of size and the number of things one can see there. It is located very close to the Korean Military GHQ and the US Camps Kim and Coiner and HQ USAK . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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