John4022 Posted January 5, 2021 Share #1 Posted January 5, 2021 Hi everyone, my father picked these up and he was wondering if he could get some extra opinions on them regarding their authenticity. I personally like the choking 101st, even though I don't collect Vietnam era patches I might make him an offer depending on your comments. Thanks in advance! -John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintageproductions Posted January 5, 2021 Share #2 Posted January 5, 2021 The choking the eagle is a novelty patch made in Korea. Usually it has an armband that looks like an 82nd airborne patch. The middle finger novelties are all Vietnamese made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John4022 Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share #3 Posted January 5, 2021 1 hour ago, vintageproductions said: The choking the eagle is a novelty patch made in Korea. Usually it has an armband that looks like an 82nd airborne patch. The middle finger novelties are all Vietnamese made. Thank you! I didn't know the 101st had patches made in Korea. I couldn't find any comparisons on the forum but maybe I just got unlucky with my searches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonomachi Posted January 5, 2021 Share #4 Posted January 5, 2021 I don't own any of these patches but I've kept photographs for reference. Here is a close variant that I believe was made in South Vietnam. The one with the 82nd Abn Div wrist band is probably Korean or it could be Japanese made. I'm not sure what the "Who Me" one signifies. Lastly is the one off of the Bando website with the "HERD" (173rd Airborne Brigade) where he explains how these patches came about in the 1970s after the 101st Abn Div began accepting non-airborne personnel into their ranks while the 82nd Abn Div and 173rd Abn Bde remained all airborne. He says these patches were made during the war in Phu Bai as well as Japan. I wasn't aware they were also made in South Korea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonomachi Posted January 5, 2021 Share #5 Posted January 5, 2021 Here is a 173rd Abn Bde novelty patch where the sword was replaced with a pipe I'm guessing signifying the use of marijuana during the war. I'm guessing the second novelty patch show solidarity between the races within the ranks of the 173rd Abn Bde while the rest of the Army was having problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintageproductions Posted January 5, 2021 Share #6 Posted January 5, 2021 The 82nd chocking the eagle is Thai made and was made for collectors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonomachi Posted January 5, 2021 Share #7 Posted January 5, 2021 The only 82nd Abn Div novelty patch I could find had to do with Grenada and a few more 101st Abn Div novelty type patches from the Vietnam War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John4022 Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share #8 Posted January 5, 2021 Thank you Tonomachi for the great references! The 1st example that you shared of which you believe was made in South Vietnam looks pretty close to my patch. Do you remember where you saw it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonomachi Posted January 6, 2021 Share #9 Posted January 6, 2021 7 hours ago, John4022 said: Thank you Tonomachi for the great references! The 1st example that you shared of which you believe was made in South Vietnam looks pretty close to my patch. Do you remember where you saw it? Sorry but I don't recall where I copied the photographs from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
439th Signal Battalion Posted January 6, 2021 Share #10 Posted January 6, 2021 I assume this pocket patch would fit into this thread. It was given to me by an early member of the 199th LIB from 66-67. The story about the patch was that it was passed around to those personnel who burned the waste on latrine duty for the first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanmc1114 Posted October 11, 2023 Share #11 Posted October 11, 2023 Here is a photo of the MACV Finger patch being worn by a member of the 388th Transportation Company. I assume this is some sort of novelty uniform, but it does have rank insignia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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