Photo By Jay Mann | Robert Mitchell, Curator at the Army Aviation Museum, Fort Rucker, shows a patch from...... read more read more
(Editor’s note: This is the third article in a three-part series on the U.S. Army Aviation Museum’s patch collection.)
FORT RUCKER, Ala. -- Army shoulder sleeve insignias tell a story about the Soldiers who wear them and the Soldiers who came before them.
Walking around Fort Rucker, Soldiers wear many different patches, either current unit or combat patches. But according to Bob Mitchell, curator at the U.S. Army Aviation Museum, if people want to see some stranger insignias that tell different stories, they need to look back at the history of Army Aviation.
“During WWII, one of the theaters was the China Burma India Theater,” said Robert Mitchell, curator at the museum.
“That was a particularly harsh place to fight. It was the jungles, and was very mountainous and rugged. We had basically three large units that were assigned there. One was the First Air Commandos – there are many stories about their exploits with helicopters,” he said. “They were the Aviation side that supported the unconventional warfare troops on the ground. The troops on the ground were General Merrill’s Marauders, and Brigadier Wingate’s Chindits. A Chindit is a Burmese mythical lion. This patch was given to one of the air commandos who was supporting the campaign in Burma.”
The museum maintains a collection of over 160 aircraft, many with unit insignias painted on or accompanied by unit patches in the historical property collection, Mitchell said.
“There are lots of great stories in these patches, and there are a lot of people all over the world who collect them,” he said. “Just go on the internet and there are groups who post photos of patches they find to share information and trade patches.”
| Date Taken: | 08.10.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 03.01.2023 09:44 |
| Story ID: | 439450 |
| Location: | FORT RUCKER, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 57 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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