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Identify this WWII ARMY BADGE - Need FReeper help....

Posted on 12/19/2011 3:03:11 PM PST by mikethevike

Can any of you military history buffs help me identify my grandpa's US Army badge from WWII ?
I know he was in North Africa and Italy...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: military

1 posted on 12/19/2011 3:03:14 PM PST by mikethevike
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To: mikethevike

It’s reminiscent of those flags that people use to hang on their windows during the war. But being a shoulder patch, we don’t know (family looking at it).


2 posted on 12/19/2011 3:05:15 PM PST by SkyDancer ("If You Want To Learn To Love Better, You Should Start With A Friend Who You Hate")
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To: mikethevike

North African Theatre


3 posted on 12/19/2011 3:06:41 PM PST by Perdogg
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To: mikethevike
You have it upside down, lol, but it's an Army of North Africa Command Theater Made Patch. Here's one emboridered in bullion thread:


4 posted on 12/19/2011 3:08:57 PM PST by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: mikethevike

I think it’s upside down....it may be a unit patch


5 posted on 12/19/2011 3:12:04 PM PST by Doogle (((USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated)))
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To: Perdogg

Thank You! That was it. I should have tried adding “North Africa” to my search. It also looks like I posted pic upside down perhaps.


6 posted on 12/19/2011 3:12:22 PM PST by mikethevike (tagline free since 2008)
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To: mikethevike

U5031-0(AW) North African Theater

This unit was responsible for operations in North Africa and later, Italy during WWII.

Reference: “Sleeve Shoulder Insignia of the U.S. Armed Forces 1941-1945” by Smith and Pelz, plate 15.


7 posted on 12/19/2011 3:13:52 PM PST by jessduntno (The Republican elite hates him, Rove hates him, Boehner hates him, liberals hate him. It's Newt!)
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To: Joe 6-pack

Makes sense — the outline of the patch is in the shape of the dome of a mosque. North Africa is predominantly muslim.


8 posted on 12/19/2011 3:18:59 PM PST by 353FMG
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To: mikethevike

First - it is upside down. It is the North African Theater


9 posted on 12/19/2011 3:19:13 PM PST by CIB-173RDABN
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To: mikethevike

http://www.google.com/images?q=Army+of+North+Africa+Patch&hl=en&biw=776&bih=438&tbm=isch&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=1156l4328l0l5109l2l2l0l0l0l0l188l282l1.1l2l0&oq=Army+of+North+Africa+Patch&aq=f&aqi=&aql=

seems post # 3 is correct


10 posted on 12/19/2011 3:19:47 PM PST by WOBBLY BOB (Congress: Looting the future to bribe the present.)
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To: mikethevike

..there's one in this display box

11 posted on 12/19/2011 3:21:01 PM PST by Doogle (((USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated)))
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To: CIB-173RDABN

You guys are fast - by the time I go out to my library, get my American Badges and Insignia book down, look it up and type what I found - someone had already beat me to it.


12 posted on 12/19/2011 3:21:21 PM PST by CIB-173RDABN
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To: CIB-173RDABN

Friend of mine was in the 173rd, when it wasrestarted down at Ft. Benning in the mid 60’s. When on the Southeast Asian tour with them. Quite the outfit, that one.


13 posted on 12/19/2011 3:42:03 PM PST by David Isaac
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To: mikethevike
My dad served in Italy and had one of those. I don't think he was ever in Africa. Must have been for the whole Mediterranean theater.
14 posted on 12/19/2011 3:49:59 PM PST by Hugin ("Most time a man'll tell you his bad intentions if you listen and let yourself hear"--Open Range)
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To: mikethevike

LOL! That’s ok, when I first saw it it looked exactly like what a “Fat Man” patch might have looked like (if they’d had them). If you has said “Army Air Corps, Pacific Theater” that’s what I would have suggested.


15 posted on 12/19/2011 4:29:17 PM PST by PhilosopherStone1000
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To: PhilosopherStone1000

Here is the patch of the 509th Composite Group. No idea if this patch was before or after their missions, as the mushroom cloud motif had been in use by similar groups.

http://historywarsweapons.com/509th-composite-group/

“The 509th CG was created based on the 393rd Bomb Squadron, a unit of B-29 Superfortresses from the 504th Bomb Group, which had been sent to Wendover, Utah, to be converted into the Composite Group.”

Thus, until they had a unit patch, which might have been after their missions, they might have been wearing their former unit patches.

The current logo shown at Sandia, NM, for the 509th is an anniversary patch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandia_Base

http://i.ebayimg.com/24/!B5rGUU!B2k~$%28KGrHqN,!g0EyrwpLPRQBMuls6ToGw~~_3.JPG


16 posted on 12/19/2011 5:14:38 PM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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To: David Isaac

I will agree “The Herd” was quite and outfit and I am proud to have once been a part of them.


17 posted on 12/22/2011 4:27:01 AM PST by CIB-173RDABN
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To: mikethevike

It’s treasure map reader’s badge.......the “x” would signify where the treasure was buried. Those maps were highly coveted by pirates sailing the seven seas.......


18 posted on 12/22/2011 4:42:03 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (Be good, Santa is coming)
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