thoughts on this unfinished Jolly Green Giant patch

[ocsfollowme]

Thoughts on this being original Vietnam War period? Would this be US made? The back looks nice with the thread. Unfinished border, very stiff. Glows on both sides. I really like the thread on it. 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

 

[Randy]

Steve, this is US made, and as you said unfinished. There are a ton of variations to this theme. The name was applied to HH-3 helicopters originally, due to it's size and camo paint. The logo was "borrowed, adopted, stolen"  from Green Giant brand vegetables. The units performed search and rescue missions and had one of the most dangerous tasks in the war. They often flew deep into North Vietnam and Laos to rescue downed aircrew. The name came into use around the mid 60s and has been used in the rescue helicopter community since, regardless of helo model. I would guess your patch to be later 60s or early 70s. Hard to put it to a unit as there are many generic versions along with ones with unit IDs on them. Most were initially made in-country and later in the US as the war kept grinding away.

 

Randy

[ocsfollowme]

Randy, as always, thanks for your time in answering my question. 

 

I just went through several hundred posts on 

 

http://usafrescue.blogspot.com/2019/11/usaf-jolly-green-unidentified-patch.html

 

His Sunday, November 17, 2019 post has:

 

 

It is interesting that there is another unfinished one for this insignia. I can only guess why. 

[Randy]

No problem; these both likely had a merrowed edge that was not added for whatever reason. I sent a copy of the pic to a guy that only collects JG patches. If I get something back I'll post it here.

 

Randy