Boy, time flies. Last time I posted was over a year ago!
There are some things I've been meaning to post for a while, but life keeps getting the way. I thought with Veteran's Day coming up it would be appropriate time.
I still have my father's old Ike jacket and I thought it would be interesting to post some pictures of his patches and ribbons.
The first photo is of the ribbons above the left pocket. From top to bottom, left to right:
1. WW II Victory ribbon
2. Army Good Conduct ribbon
3. WW II American Campaign ribbon
The second photo is the honorable discharge patch above the right pocket, also called the "Ruptured Duck" .
"This patch was issued to discharged soldiers to be work above the right pocket flap. This allowed soldiers to wear their uniforms while traveling home and not get ordered around by an officer."
The third photo is the Engineer Special Brigade patch on the left shoulder.
"The shoulder sleeve insignia was originally approved for the Engineer Amphibian Units on 17 June 1942. It was redesignated for all Army personnel assigned to the following amphibian units: Amphibian Tank Battalions; Amphibian Tractor Battalions; Engineer Amphibian Units; Joint Assault Signal Companies; Headquarters Ships Detachments (Type A); Headquarters Ships Detachment (Type B); Headquarters Section (Army); and Amphibian Training Command - Pacific Fleet on 10 June 1944. The insignia was redesignated for the 1st Engineer Brigade and amended to update the description and add a symbolism on 20 July 2007."
The fourth photo is the 13th Army Corps patch on the right shoulder.
The 13th corps was activated on 12/7/1942 and fought for 180 days in the European Theater of Operations. Wikipedia gives a good history of the corps.
You may have noticed that the patch is swen on upside-down. I got a laugh out of this since my father could sometimes be dyslexic about things like that. I can just hear him saying, "The heck with it. I'm not going to sew it on again!" That is, assuming he is the one that sewed it on, but it wouldn't surprise me.
The last photo is the lower left sleeve which has the three stripes for six months of service each and his private's stripe.
