The following pictures are of some of my grandfather's memorabilia from his career. I know what most of it is. The ones I'm not sure about are the top row with the black panther and the silver star with the eagle seal. I'm also not sure about the blue and gold shield on the left. I heard lots of stories from the man before he passed away, but there are some gaps I'm trying to fill in. The SF bits make me really wonder what he was really doing in South America for the years he spent there, for instance. I'll probably never know since I don't think he ever told anyone.

I'll greatly appreciate any input.

Mods: the images are a bit large. I'll be happy to resize if necessary.




Edit:

Incidentally, if anyone knows where I can get some info on the 285th during its deployment, I'd be grateful.

The blue/gold shield is the flash that was worn on his green beret from the 8th Special Forces Group, active in Vietnam from 1963 to 1972. The blue SF patch is upside-down, the sword should point up. The panther insignia is most likely a unit crest worn on the shoulder boards of the class-A jacket (ugly green coat). There are so many crests that it could be from anywhere (but not SF). I don't know what the star/eagle insignia is.

ETA: Was he ever assigned to the Pentagon?

Not to the best of my knowledge. As best I know, he enlisted and spent some time in Korea as infantry. After that he went to engineering school and OCS. As seen on the plaque he was in Vietnam when the 82nd deployed. After than he spent three years TAD in Colombia. I could never pin down exactly when he went though SF or airborne training. When he passed away, a box with these patches and insignia was all I could rescue from my avaricious relatives. There was a folder of papers detailing various training, schools, his DD214, etc. which I couldn't get my hands on. Hopefully I'll get access to that one of these days.

If he was the commander of an engineering detachment, it is possible that his unit was assigned to the 8th SFG for engineer support. Since all SF groups are Airborne, he would have been authorized to wear the maroon beret with the 8th SFG flash, as well as wear the SF crest on the shoulder boards (but not over the right coat pocket since he was an engineering officer).

The Stars with the Eagle means he was General Staff. The patch is actually upside down. Right side up it is the Special Forces patch.

The brass in the lower right and left are Engineer branch insignia. The 11 on the top means he was with the 11th Engineers.

he was airborne. expert qualified in three different weapon systems.

Thanks for the information, gentlemen.

Originally Posted by Team Infidel

The Stars with the Eagle means he was General Staff.

And if memory of AR-640-1 serves me correctly, he would have worn them instead of his Engineering branch pins while he was assigned to G-staff.

As Maytime said, it looks like the panthers were his unit's DUI (distinctive unit insignia); the shields with the red ribbon cutting them in half are probably regimental crests, which would be worn over the black Class A/B nametag (and any unit awards).

In the Navy they have the silver and gold leaves bottom center, the gold is Lt Commander, and the silver is Commander. I kinda recognize some others but I don't want to try to say what they are and give you the wrong info.

Originally Posted by moving0target

Not to the best of my knowledge. As best I know, he enlisted and spent some time in Korea as infantry. After that he went to engineering school and OCS. As seen on the plaque he was in Vietnam when the 82nd deployed. After than he spent three years TAD in Colombia. I could never pin down exactly when he went though SF or airborne training. When he passed away, a box with these patches and insignia was all I could rescue from my avaricious relatives. There was a folder of papers detailing various training, schools, his DD214, etc. which I couldn't get my hands on. Hopefully I'll get access to that one of these days.

You should be able to request a copy of his OMPF (Official Military Personnel File). I think that the form is an SF-180. Fill it out with as much info as possible. Dates served, service number (Not the same as SSN), DOB, etc. Send it to ST Loius. It should take about 6-8 weeks. They might redact some of the information if he was SF. I did this for my father who was in the navy. It helped me to fill in the blanks.

www.archives.gov/research/order/standard-form-180.pdf

The regimental crest with the black tiger and red & white piping below is the insignia of the 11th Engineer Battalion (Combat) "Jungle Cats". The two other crests shown at the bottom are two versions of the same crest which is an engineer unit. If you look in the thread about unit mottos on this website you may find more info. Try reading the motto on the bottom of the crests.

You may find more info @ this site, which is a listing of all US Army Engineer units:
http://www.armyengineer.com/unit_links.html