VERY RARE - US 71st AIR COMMANDO SQUADRON -VIETNAM WAR ERA U.S.A. PATCH 912

Description

UP FOR AUCTION A VERY RARE MADE IN THE U.S.A. VIETNAM WAR ERA PATCH. PLEASE REFER TO ALL PHOTOS. VERY LITE AGE WEAR -NO HOLES OR RIPS OR TEARS - EXCELLENT RARE PATCH. APPROX 3 1/4 INCHES IN DIAMETER. FULLY EMBROIDERED - BACK IS INTERWOVEN AND CHEESECLOTH ON THE DIAMETER. WHY IS IT SO RARE ? BECAUSE IT WAAS ISSUED ONLY FOR LESS THE ONE MONTH STATE SIDE HERE IN OHIO. THE SQUADRON WAS REDESIGNATED WITH NEW NAME. ALL THE BACKROUND INFORMATION IS BELOW. SO PLEASE READ IT. FOUND AT A MILITARY COLLECTORS SALE. I SHIP USPS PRIORITY SERVICE WITH TRACKING AND INSURANCE FOR FREE. PLEASE READ MORE INFO BELOW. THANKS
On 15 June 1968, about a month after its parent
930th Tactical Airlift Group
had been mobilized at
Bakalar AFB
, with eighteen C-l19Gs, the 71st Tactical Airlift Squadron moved to
Lockbourne AFB
, Ohio, and converted to AC-119 gunship operations. On that same date, the 71st was redesignated as the 71st Air Commando Squadron, a name that lasted less than a month, as the unit became the 71st Special Operations Squadron on 8 July. Conversion from tactical airlift to gunship operations in the AC-119 brought significant changes. The crew composition increased from five to eight as the crew acquired a second navigator and two gunners while the loadmaster cross-trained as an illuminator operator. Also, a change in the ratio of crews to airplanes increased total crew requirements from sixteen to twenty-four. By 21 November 1968, the crews had formed and were ready. The aircrews left for Vietnam on 5 December; four days later, other elements of the squadron left via
C-141 Starlifters
. The unit was reassigned to the
14th Special Operations Wing
on 20 December 1968. During its time in South Vietnam, the 71st got away cheaply for having flown more than 6,000 hours in six months in a combat zone. It lost no aircraft, and only six received any kind of battle damage in the air. The most serious incident involved an aircraft struck by about six rounds of 12.7-mm fire which put 19 holes in the aft part of the fuselage and caused minor lacerations in the neck and back of a gunner. This active force man was augmenting the basic reserve crew; nevertheless he became the first combat casualty aboard an Air Force Reserve aircraft since the 452d Light Bomb Wing was relieved at
Pusan East (K-9) Air Base
, South Korea, on 7 May 1952 during the Korean War.
The squadron was relieved from active service and returned to Bakalar AFB on 18 June 1969. It was inactivated on 1 October 1973.