First of all, I am sorry if this is not in the right place. My grandfather has recently passed away and my grandmother is finally able to start going through his stuff. I have always been interested in history but I just do not know where to look to find more information on his old war patches. I assume some of them are WWII patches. He put them in a nice frame on display before he passed. I would like to know how he got the patches and what they mean if its possible. Here is the link to the patches: http://imgur.com/a/JCMC3
If anyone has any insight on any of the patches I would be glad to hear it, any input is appreciated! Thanks
Starting on Bottom right, going left, then up a row when possible, then to right, then up and then to left, etc:
? WW2, but not sure which unit/ 24th Infantry Division (green Taro leaf on red circle)/ 1st Logistics Command/ Army Special Warfare School/ 7th Army/ 18th Medical command (maroon sword point down on blue, withwhite circles)/ West Point Military Academy/ 2nd Infantry Division/ Headquarters Army Air Forces (ww2) (star and wings on blue circle)/ ? (battle axes-- one of the post viet-nam ones, but I don't remember which)/ Rainbow and Sword on blue= US Army Europe/ Castle and X= some engineer unit, but don't remember which one/ 16th Armored Division/ Yellow rocket and lightning on red shield= Army Air Defense/ 1st Army (Black A on red and white)/ 1st Air Force (AF HQ with a 1 over it)/ Airborne Troop Carrier Command (Army Air Corps WW2)/ 4th Armored Division/ 5th Corps/ European Theatre of Operations Advanced Sector/ Follow me with bayonet is Infantry School/ Funny looking “2” in white on Maroon is 2nd Surgical Hospital ( think it became a Medical Brigade or Command later)/ lightning bolt is 25th Division/ Diamond with white castle and sword is some Engineer Brigade/ then 2nd Army/ then Airborne Command/ then 3rd Armor Division/ then 11th Air Force.
For the most part, each patch is unique to a specific unit. Some of those units may very well have fought in WWII and still exist today... it's also possible that a unit "descended" from a different one in history.
For example, I notice one patch on the left side, looks like a castle with a sword through it on red with a gold border? That's the parch of the 18th Engineer Brigade. It took that name in 1954, but its history goes back to 1921, when the 347th Engineers were created. Eventually it became the 18th Engineer. Oh, and the patch is being displayed upside-down in the frame.
As far as finding out more, the US Army's master list of shoulder patches is here. It's a big'un, and it assumes you know if a unit is, say, cavalry, or a dental unit.
I can point out a few of the units just off the top of my head.
The three-colored triangles with a number at the top and the tank tread/cannon/lightning bolt in the center are for Armored Divisions, specifically the number is the division. I see the 2nd ("Hell on Wheels"), 3rd ("Spearhead"), 4th ("Name Enough", as in "they need no nickname, the 4th Armored Divsion is name enough"), and the 16th.
Any patch with a castle on it is almost certainly an engineer unit. Other than the 18th, I see the 7th Engineer Brigade (lower right, castle on alternating red-and-white stripes, black x), and a couple others I don't immediately recognize.
I'll try and answer more later!
The first thing to note is that your grandfather made a nice collection, but I guarantee those were not all patches of units he was in. It would be essentially impossible for one person to serve in all of those units. The patches range from WW2 to post-Viet-Nam, and are both Army and Air Force (or Army Air Corps in some cases) . Top left is 5th Army, third from the left is 8th Division, next is 3rd Division, Then Sixth ARmy, then 11th Airborne (Air Assault ) Division, then 1st Cavalry. Next row starts with the Armor Center (Triangle shaped), then 8th Army, The Polar Bear Head is Alaska Command, Next row starts with Army Service Forces, then Americal Division (26th??), then 2nd Armor Division, then 101st Airborne Division, then Military District of Washington, The shield with two superimposed Xs is the 20th Corps, The sword and rainbow is US Army Europe (formerly Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF)), 4 leaved white clover on red diamond is 4th Army, The circle with three colored bands is Army Training and Doctrine command (was Army Reserve Command during WW2 -- I think), Triangle with a 3 is 3rd Armor Division, 11th Air Force, 18th MP Brigade is the green one with a yellow griffin head, A in a cloverleaf is 9th Army, Arrow and stars is US Army Pacific, Below that is 7th Corps (upside down), Many of these have changed names over the years... I'll come back to try to help you more when I get a chance.