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River Assault Squadron 13 Japanese made


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I have not seen the top one also. That does not mean it didn't exist. The unit was short lived. The patch appears to be 60-70's japanese made. I don't have any specific images or designs for RAS13. Maybe someone else does. The RS13 beret patch looks good. Did you buy these ? Here is a link to another RAS13 patch posted here. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/82693-vietnam-navy-patch-use/

Regards, Mitch

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Mitch, I saw that posting and also searched for and found a few berets, with the RS13 patch, (one yours) so I am comfortable with the beret patch, the pocket patch/SSI is one I have never seen. The grouping it was in shows an RS15 beret patch and a RIVRON 15 SSI which both looked original to me. The RS15 beret patch was a perfect match for one on a Beret you posted and the RIVRON 15 SSI looked period also. There was also a River Assault Flotilla One patch which ties the 13 and 15 patches together in my mind. Also there was a Mare Island patch that looked period so I would think all of the patches are original who knows maybe the RAS 13 SSI is one of only a few made... I don't have a reduced picture of the backs, any idea on the 6 31 Hawks patch, looks to be carrying a NVA flag? looks like a staff officer of the flotilla collected these.

The Group:

post-582-0-76227500-1373375499.jpg

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Patchcollector

By the size of it,I'm thinking that the unknown RAS 13 patch is probably one that someone from the unit had made up while on R&R,or something like that to wear on a jacket perhaps.
In Asia,especially during the war,it was,(and still is) quite easy to have anything you want made.
It is a nice looking piece!

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Patchcollector

The 631 could also be the 31st Infantry Regiment.I found this info online:

 

When the Army abandoned battle groups in favor of brigades and battalions in 1963, the 31st Infantry's 1st and 2d Battalions were reactivated in Korea, the 3d Battalion remained in the Army Reserve, and the 5th Battalion replaced the 2d Battle Group at Fort Rucker. When the war in Vietnam came, two more battalions of the 31st Infantry were formed. The 4th Battalion was formed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts in 1965 and the 6th Battalion was formed at Fort Lewis, Washington in 1967.

The 4th Battalion went to Vietnam in the spring of 1966, operating initially in War Zone D and around Tay Ninh near the Cambodian border. In 1967, the battalion moved north to help form the 23d "Americal" Infantry Division. Operating at Quang Ngai, Chu Lai, and the Que Son Valley for most of the rest of the war, the 4th Battalion fought to keep Viet Cong guerillas and the North Vietnamese Army from capturing the coastal lowlands. Two of the battalion's members earned the Medal of Honor almost a year apart near the bitterly-contested village of Hiep Duc. When American forces departed, the 4th Battalion 31st Infantry was part of the last brigade to leave Vietnam. It was deactivated in 1971.
The 6th Battalion was sent to Vietnam in the spring of 1968, arriving just in time to help recapture Saigon's suburbs during the enemy's abortive May offensive. For the next two years, the 6th Battalion fought all across the Mekong Delta and the Plain of Reeds. When the 9th Infantry Division departed in 1969, the 6th Battalion 31st Infantry formed the nucleus of a 1200 man task force under LTC Gerald Carlson to cover the division's departure. Task Force Carlson established a reputation as perhaps the most aggressive and successful battalion in the division's history.Remaining in Vietnam, the 6th Battalion crossed into Cambodia in May 1970, making the famed "Seminole Raid" to seize and destroy a huge enemy base area bordering the Plain of Reeds. The battalion returned to Ft Lewis for deactivation in October 1970.

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Member Alpha Niner will be able to say if the 6 31 Hawk patch will be for a unit within the 6th Battalion 31st Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, he was in the unit 69-70.

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firefighter

The 6th Battalion was sent to Vietnam in the spring of 1968, arriving just in time to help recapture Saigon's suburbs during the enemy's abortive May offensive. For the next two years, the 6th Battalion fought all across the Mekong Delta and the Plain of Reeds. When the 9th Infantry Division departed in 1969, the 6th Battalion 31st Infantry formed the nucleus of a 1200 man task force under LTC Gerald Carlson to cover the division's departure. Task Force Carlson established a reputation as perhaps the most aggressive and successful battalion in the division's history.[citation needed] Remaining in Vietnam, the 6th Battalion crossed into Cambodia in May 1970, making the famed "Seminole Raid" to seize and destroy a huge enemy base area bordering the Plain of Reeds. The battalion returned to Ft Lewis for deactivation in October 1970.

 

Mkes since.The 9th Inf Div was Mobile Riverine Force in Vietnam.

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I have heard of the 6/31st of the 9th "Hawks" but I can't specifically remember what particular unit, but I think patches nailed it.

Regards, Mitch

P.S. Which ones are for me ?

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  • 2 weeks later...
River Patrol

The RAS 13 patch is clearly Japanese made and NOT just a "one off" patch.....it has multiple elements seen in other RAS 13 patches and looks very similar in shape to other RAS patches. For me, it is clearly a unit used patch that may have been used for a limited time period.

 

I would want it in my patch collection and really could use it for my Vietnam book.

 

Nice find!!!

 

Steve

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Niner Alpha

That Bravo Bear patch just shown in this string is more than probably bogus. Ebay has a lot of them for sale regularly.

 

Notice the formation of the letters in "Mekong Delta". Also notice the way the Bravo Bears banner is scaled.

 

Bravo did have patches of different colors...I think... for different platoons so to have a red one isn't the obvious defect. It was a thing that Bravo did exclusively in the battalion as far as I know.

 

The "Blue" patch is genuine in the image attached.

post-6574-0-75318600-1374517582.jpg

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Niner Alpha,

I agree that there are alot of bogus "Bravo Bears" patches on E-bay, probably all of them are not good right now. However the patch posted on the right above is real. It's just a "Cheap Charlie" version made in Vietnam during the war. Not all "Bravo Bears" patches are going to look like the one from your website. I suspect more will look like the one on the right in red. Chain stitched patches like the blue one just do not show up often . Every person who made patches in Vietnam made them different.

Regards, Mitch

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River Patrol

Niner alpha

 

You are comparing the red machine embroidered Cheap Charlie patch to a chain stitched embroidered, unit used patch......the red patch is a classic Cheap Charlie style.

 

Steve

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Niner Alpha

I don't believe the red one was ever contracted for by Bravo Company in Vietnam. And...I know... this is just my opinion. These patch things were often done by a Company Commander who got a wild hair and decided to get some made. They weren't used all the time by any company in the 6/31st and were usually made in a batches of a hundred or so at any given time. The Vietnamese didn't make inventory on speculation......back then. Mitch, why do you think the red one is real as far as time place, and connection to Bravo 6/31st?

 

Company commanders sometimes had other trinkets made. The last CO of Alpha had a pin as well as a patch made. There were only a hundred pins like the one I have that were ever made. Don't think Bravo ever had a pin. Think Alpha was the only company that did.

post-6574-0-63405700-1374530005.jpg

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NA,

Great looking beercan . As far as the patch, I went to LJ's website and looked at the patch construction and it matches the style of a cheap charlie. The term cheap charlie has been debated here on many an occasion. The jest of it is , there were patches made by Phouc-Hung (the real cheap charlie) in Saigon and others in different areas that were copied from an existing design. Some were made for GI's and some were made for collectors in the US. Some may have been worn by 6/31 guys and many probably not but they were made in Vietnam during the war. The construction of the one posted matches 100's of patches that I have from VN war. Also to the best of my knowledge, the hand chain stiched patches, like the blue one, were not made in large quantities.

Regards, Mitch

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Niner Alpha

The blue one is "real" as in really used by the 6/31st. It wasn't made in large quantities. If you have no proof that the "cheap charlie" has any provenance as being commissioned for the 6/31st , to me, it has to be considered bogus on the face of it. I think, too, you would have a hard time proving the patch you have was even made during the Vietnam war. Did whomever sold it to you offer any explanation of where he got it or why he was selling it as a relic from Vietnam?

 

The pin wasn't made out of beer can by the way.

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vintageproductions

The red bordered one was made in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. These started showing up on Collectors / dealers trade & sale list from about 1969 through the fall of Saigon. They started out at $.50 each and at the end they were around a $1.00 each.

The pin being called a "beercan" is a collectors term for these local made pins. They were usually made on thin stamped metal with hand painted details, just like the one you show. Which not trying to muddy the waters, but the exact same one was available to collectors during the Vietnam era. Just like patch collectors there were Di (distinctive insignia) collectors. Every shop that made these type pins made the ordered amount for a GI, and then made another pile for the insignia dealers to sell to collectors back in the States.

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Niner Alpha

I hear the mantra. I still don't buy it without some actual proof.. But.... it's not me that is going to be buying one. Everyone should spend their money in the way they think best.

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It appears this conversation is going nowhere. And by the way the bulk of my patches were sent home to me in 1966 by my brother LTC D. Miller, Danang, Vietnam and I have been studying them since.

Mitch

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