Vietnam war era Marine Intel patch

[Patchcollector]

I've been wanting to post this patch for awhile,and since it's the Labor Day weekend,thought now is as good a time as any to share

this old gem with my fellow patch loving peeps.

I acquired this some years back,at first thinking it was hopefully a sniper patch,as the gun has a scope and what looks to be equipped

with a suppressor.Further study showed me that "S-2" means Intelligence section,so the motto"The Eyes and the Ears of the Battalion"

now makes sense.If you look closely at the "troop",you will notice that his ears have "tubes" to aid in hearing sounds,and a compass

is on his face!Also cool is the camo pattern on his uniform,it resembles,to me at least,the "duck hunter" type.

The patch is soft and floppy,my feeling is that it is from the early Vietnam war involvement of this unit,around 1965(?)

I have not been able to learn much about this unit,except that they did some hard fighting while in Nam,around the A Shau Valley and Khe Sanh,

among other places.Any help would be much appreciated.Thanks!

[Patchcollector]

Back view

[manayunkman]

Nice unusual patch. I love stuff like that. Thanks for posting it.

 

M.

[Patchcollector]

Nice unusual patch. I love stuff like that. Thanks for posting it.

 

M.

 

Thanks M!Yes,it is an unusual design!Glad you enjoyed it!

[Patchcollector]

I found this photo online

[Patchcollector]

Here is a little info I found online about the unit:

 

2/3 deployed to Da Nang in the Republic of Vietnam in April 1965. They fought in Vietnam from April 1965 until October 1969, operating from DaNang, Camp Carroll, Quang Tri, Cam Lo, the A Shau Valley and Khe Sahn. The battalion made a night helicopter assault in the Elephant Valley south of Da Nang on 12 August 1965, shortly after Marine ground troops arrived in country. In October 1969, the battalion relocated to MCB Camp Pendleton.

[Patchcollector]

The more I learn about this unit,the more I am blown away.These guys did some of the hardest fighting

in some of the most brutal battles during the entire Vietnam war.They participated in "the Hill Wars",

which is the area around Khe Sahn.I was reading online about the battle for hill 881,and was amazed

at the ferocity of the fighting.

 

Here I found a slideshow of some unit pics on Youtube:

 

 

Also,if you Google hill 881,there are some amazing photos about the battle.