This site may also be a valuable resource to search and contact as well. It's definitely good for reference. Again best of luck with your collecting. Kindest regards.
Brian
RVNHS Virtual Museum: Insignia of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam: Divisions and Regiments
I don't want to rain on your parade but honestly I would be very dubious and sceptical of any "in country" or "Theatre made" made Vietnam war patch and I would personally never buy one unless it came with some rock solid provenance. The amount of patches and other stuff that is being faked coming out of Vietnam is incredible, there is probably more fake Vietnam war related junk than there is Third Reich and that is no exaggeration. Having been there a couple of times I can tell you that the stuff is for sale everywhere over there and all being sold as original. You can buy patches by the 100's & 1000's in Saigon and they all come with the "All original 100%" story attached so be careful.
Now having said that I can't comment on the originality of those patches but to me they do look like the standard run of the mill fakes that are churned out over there by the millions.
If you Google image search for the Dan Sinh markets in Saigon and you will see what I mean.
Honestly it never crossed my mind about authenticity. I do not collect Vietnam era items and I ve certainly never been there. So I absolutely respect your opinion on their authenticity. The only difference I see compared to the majority of insignia while image searching dan sinh market, is the majority of those seem to be machine embroidered. But at the same time the insignia in question having a more more crudely made appearance, probably feeds into the believability of the "theater made" claim. Very interesting point you make and I thank you for bringing it up, as I am interested to learn. Best regards.
Brian
Hello, it is true that there are many copies.
But I'm sure mine are original.
It was an old man who gave it to me, and he showed me his photos with American soldiers in the early 1970s when he was a military man in Berlin. And I know his family well ...
These patches can be difficult to date. It's true many are being produced in Asia today, but's it's also true that in the early 1970's in Thailand outside US Air force bases little tailor shops were churning out unofficial cloth badges for GI's. Probably also happened in Vietnam. The crudeness of the stitching is the giveaway, but dating them can be very difficult, unless obviously new.
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