ARVN South Vietnamese Airborne Jump Wings Special Forces Ranger Silk Patch

Description: Vietnam War Theater In-Country South Vietnamese Made Rare ARVN South Vietnamese Airborne Division Jump Wings Special Forces Ranger Patch Elite USSF LLDB "Vien Tham” Original Beautiful & Gorgeous, Great workmanship. Looks to have been attached at one time. I have had it in my collection since 1970 This Patch is very Rare and hard to find. Unit History USSF / Mike Force / LLDB ARVN Patch / Tiger Force Ranger Unit Patch Vien-Tham / Super rare Vietnam War Patch MIKE FORCE - NUNG Mercenary Detachment LLDB - Luc Luong Dac Biet - Special Forces Airborne - Vietnam War Patch - Tiger Force Rangers - Penal Unit. LLDB - South Vietnam Special Forces PENAL UNIT - Rare Hand Made South Vietnamese Penal Unit Patch of the, Bat Tu - Mike Force - Tiger Force Ranger Unit. In the days between the French Indochina and Vietnam War, Vietnam was littered with Private Armies of individual factions supporting their own religion, tribal group or warlord. Many of these soldiers were Special Forces Trained Mercenaries, their main role was to collect taxes and prevent other warring factions from entering their domain, all in all an easy enough existence. As the Vietnam War progressed and combat became more regular and intense all of the private armies in South Vietnam were required to be active in their support of the South Vietnamese Government who saw the private armies as being as much as a threat as the communists in the north. With the allegiance's in place the private army's became increasingly more active and desertion was from these units was high. The deserters from the private armies were then required to enlist with the ARVN, those that did not were considered Draft-Dodgers. On capture, rather than imprison or execute the ' Draft Dodgers / Deserters ' the BAT TU, Mike Force Indigenous Unit was formed. It was this unit that eventually led to some US Troops to call the LLDB the ' Look Long, Duck Back' instead of their official name of, Luc Long Dac Biet (Vietnam Special Forces ) Initially considered a penal unit the unit was eventually manned by regular Tiger Force and Special Forces Operatives, however always led by US Special Forces Units. Their primary role post 1968 was the infiltration of VC tracks dressed as Viet Cong and the Carrying out of ambushes in Border Areas. Located in Military Corps Tactical Zone II, the US Special Forces Base Camp at Ha Tien (Ha Thien) was opened as a Mobile Guerrilla Force base, training and operating Montagnard Special Forces Operatives from late 1962. During this period the base camp was designated Detachment A - 421. Detachment A-421 had over 130 US Special Forces Operatives Assigned. In April of 1965 the base camp at Ha Thien was re designated, Mobile Strike Force Base Camp, A-405. Containing the original strength of US Special Forces Operatives the base camp grew and by late that year had over 500 Indigenous Montagnard Operatives conducting Recon Missions from the Base. In mid 1966 the camp strength was complimented by elements of the South Vietnam Special Forces and Tiger Force Ranger Units as well as additional US Special Forces Operatives. In October of 1967, US Special Forces Operatives at Ha Tien were reassigned to other combat areas and the MIKE, Strike Force was also reassigned leaving Ha Tien in the capable hands of the Rangers. This patch, showing the Tiger of the Camp Strike Force Units (Mike Force) with the US Special Forces and Rangers dates from April 1965 through October 1967. Military Special Forces Patches History Special forces personnel began serving in the Republic of Vietnam in 1957. During the early days of the Vietnam military build up, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy sent Special Forces Units to South Vietnam in a special advisory capacity. In September 1962, United States Special Forces, Vietnam (Provisional) was formed from members of the First Group, stationed on Okinawa, and the Fifth and Seventh Groups from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The soldiers, operating in small units, created many patch designs, which were locally manufactured and, in many cases, handmade. The first insignia, of course, was the beret flash, which combined the yellow from the first group, black from the Fifth, and red from the Seventh and incorporated them with a bend with bundles that represented the flag of the Republic of Vietnam. This flash, designed by Colonel George Morton, eventually became the insignia of the Fifth Special Forces Group. Popular among the recon teams known as "Mike Force," which is the universal corruption of "Mobile Strike Force," was the use of state names, some of which appear here. As state names were used up, names of snakes (for example, the Adder, Anaconda, and Cobra) became popular. The motto "We Kill For Peace" was almost universally used by these units. The collector will find that many of the MACV-SOG insignia were all originally hand-sewn and can be found later reproduced machine-sewn in copied versions and in many variants. This is due to the fact that many of the insignia were originally Hand-Made "in country" which were unauthorized wear and preferred by Special Forces Soldiers for there unique individuality and flare being all completely hand made, with no two exactly alike. Most Hand-Made patches were unauthorized wear which the Special Forces Soldiers again preferred, issued to Special Forces trained Indigenous Tribesman and new arrivals and/or new recon team members signifying their fighting skills and acceptance as being attached to the team. It is interesting to note that the Green Berets in many cases wore their patches inside the green beret. It was placed there in keeping with the covert nature of their missions. Besides recon teams, MACV-SOG also deployed exploitation teams or "hatchet teams" which were of platoon size and consisted of Americans and indigenous troops. The most famous, all highly classified areas of operations were along the Ho Chi Minh trail, into Cambodia and Laos. Information extracted from the book "US ARMY PATCHES" by Barry Jason Stein The Cloth Insignia Of The Vietnam War - The patches of the Vietnam war present a very interesting study because this is the first time where a fairly large number of in-country made patches were developed. The government issued patches had some new designs and saw the introduction of the subdued styles. Several soldiers took it upon themselves to contract with local seamstresses to create patches. Some of them were replicas of existing ones while others were brand new. The Vietnam war saw the birth of a wide flurry of homemade (in-country made), unauthorized cloth insignia. When the US Army started fighting the Vietcong with guerrilla tactics, several small and specialized groups were formed. Groups such as MACV SOG Special Forces Groups made their way into history. Often times the unauthorized insignia was worn in hidden places such as inside hats and berets. The History of Special Forces Insignia During The Vietnam War Over the years a lot has been said regarding Special Forces and MAC V SOG insignia of the Vietnam War. US Special Forces Advisors were first assigned to Vietnam in 1957 and soon after a limited number of unauthorized insignia were developed to distinguish the different Vietnamese units, qualifications and awards. One of the earliest pieces that has been documented is the Vietnamese Airborne Rangers, “Tony the Tiger” patch. The insignia was developed in 1961 by a 1st Special Forces Group, TDY team while training the early Luc Luong Dac Biet (LLDB) / South Vietnamese Special Forces. The locally hand embroidered insignia was copied from a Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereal box and held as a coveted award for graduates of the school. As the War progressed, so did the US Special Forces involvement with the creation of the border surveillance camps (A-Camps), the Mike Force, CIDG programs, Projects Delta, Sigma, Omega and Gamma, and Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MAC V SOG), ect. The South Vietnamese military had authorized some generic Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI) designs that were manufactured in silk woven strips or printed on cotton sheets. These patches were worn on the left sleeve by the Vietnamese troops and the left pocket of US personnel assigned. In 1968, unauthorized patch designs started to appear on a larger scale within several of the units assigned under 5th Special Forces Group (ABN). This insignia was mainly manufactured by local tailors with few Thailand or Taiwan examples. US personnel assigned to these units were just like any other US Army unit in Vietnam and authorized one out of country R&R (Rest and Recuperation / Relaxation) leave per one-year tour that could be taken almost anywhere in the world. With only a two week leave, having insignia manufactured was usually a low priority. This is why most patches associated with 5th SFG projects and programs other than that of MAC V SOG were of Vietnamese manufacture and of limited designs. Personnel assigned to MAC V SOG were augmented through 5th Special Forces Group (ABN). This meant they were only to report to 5th SFG Headquarters for in-processing, awards, promotion and out-processing everything else was through MAC V SOG Headquarters. The individuals received the standard two week leave, plus MAC V SOG had an unofficial policy for OPS-35 personnel that allowed a Recon Team or Hatchet Force Company a week stand down after an operation. The indigenous personnel were allowed to return to their homes, while the US Cadre were given authorization to board what was termed a CCK Flight to Taiwan and the 1st SFG (ABN), Snakebite personnel could sometimes return to Okinawa. The personnel assigned to the unit started to incorporate insignia to distinguish the different recon teams and Hatchet Forces. The early insignia was locally manufactured and was later replaced with Taiwanese, Thailand or Okinawan insignia made during their team’s stand down. This insignia was produced in a very limited number of twenty to twenty- five pieces per design for recon team patches and about a hundred Hatchet Forces patches. The different 5th SFG units and MAC V SOG patches were soon copied by the South Vietnamese on a commercial scale in Saigon and dispersed throughout the county for the GI patch collector market. These patches were manufactured in quantities of several hundred per design and were even offered for sale in the United States through ASMIC (American Society of Military Insignia Collectors) dealer’s mail order catalogs. This insignia today, is collectively termed “Cheap Charlie’s” and are of wartime manufacture. To summarize; the insignia that was manufactured early in Vietnam at the local tailor shops along with the Taiwanese, Thailand and Okinawan patches do bring a premium, even more if they are documented to an individual. These pieces have greater detail but are far less in quantity (estimated less than ten to twenty pieces per design remain) compared to the commercially manufactured pieces. This article is specific to Special Force and MAC V SOG insignia of the Vietnam War. This same application cannot be applied to US Air Force, US Navy or US Marines as their bases, regulations, and R&R centers differed from that of the US Army. As with any other collecting hobby, once items reach a certain monetary value there are always individuals looking to take advantage of the unsuspecting collector. In my thirty years in this hobby I have heard it all and even have a drawer full of mistakes I purchased in my early days. It is up to the collector to do his diligent research, understand the area he is interested in, research the individuals he is buying from and their reputation as well as applying common sense. I WILL NOT SHIP TO ANY OTHER COUNTRY. IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE OF AMERICA, I WILL NOT SHIP TO YOU DIRECTLY. YOU WILL HAVE TO USE EBAY GLOBAL SHIPPING PROGRAM. NO EXCEPTIONS. I accept Pay Pal. I try to ship out next day after payment is done. I will put all winnings in one box for lower shipping (COMBINED). I will send only to the Pay Pal Address listed in the States or US Global shipping program. Because of the value I will ship insured and signature confirmation required. No exceptions. Please ask any questions before bidding. I am a private seller and not an expert on the subjects, please research your item being sold and bid accordingly. Prices very due to the rarity and type of patch. These patches have been in my collection for many years, which I am parting with so others could collect and enjoy. Thank you. I am selling a long time collection of US Vietnam Special Forces and ARVN. I have many hand made originals. Most appear to be originals dictated by pricing. I'm going be listing them so save me as a seller. If anyone has an interest in a specific patch, or group, let me know I might have it. I have been a long time collector finally selling his collection for others to enjoy.

Price: 249.99 USD

Location: Trout Creek, Montana

End Time: 2024-04-03T18:54:47.000Z

Shipping Cost: 14.95 USD