What does the ruptured duck military patch look like?

Answer 1

Shortly after WWII ended recently discharged members were issued these patches to be worn on the right breast of their service uniforms so they wouldn't be pestered by overly officious military and civil police as suspected deserters and a convenience for the often forgotten conscientious law enforcement officials. This was necessary because so few veterans posessed civilian clothing for traveling back to their homes of record; and there was little of it for sale on the market due to the fact that the garment industry had been geared for wartime production of military clothing for the prevoius three and a half years. The cloth patch emblem is a copy of the metal pin in gold (actually yellow thread) embroidered on a 3.75" wide x 2" tall lozenge shaped background that is ideally the same color as the shirt/blouse it was to be worn on. It is quite handsome and stiking in appearance. Khaki for khaki uniforms, brick red for the army/marine/seabee olive tunic, and presumably black or navy for a seaman's dress blues. These black/navy ones may have been scarce as I've seen WWII vintage sailor's jumpers with the red diamond sewn on. These red ones almost certainly must have been issued by the Navy when black wasn't available, as I can't imagine a newly discharged seaman buying one even if they'd been available, which I'm sure they weren't.. The lozenge edges have a yellow embroidered border. The metal pins were in short supply as the copper and gold necessary for their production had been diverted for the production of essential war materials. Issue of the pins would have been inapproprate, in any case, as they were intended for wear on civilian clothing and, at 5/8" diameter, would have been too small to be easily noticed by law enforcement personnel. These patches are still being produced and are readilly available on the internet - just Google: "ruptured duck patch" on your favorite search engine. Several sites have the khaki patch and a black "WWII VETERAN" hat patch that can be cut down and appliqued to a memorial dress blue veterans uniform. A zigzag sewing machine is a great help here. The pins too are available new so you don't have to rely on the supply of expensive vintage collector pins to get yours. For those of you/us who maintain a personnal veterans or campaign uniform as a keepsake, I highly recommend the additon of one of these patches to your dress canvas. No, you don't have to be a WWII veteran or to have been issued one to wear it as anyone who was honorably discharged rates one. Don't let any of those superannuated WWII vets tell you "you ain't authorized;" your DD-214 is your "authorization" - so, tuck your swagger stick under your arm and strut your stuff. Also, we vets don't have to be cowed by a bunch of politically correct draft dodgers who hauled ass for Canada when the goin' got tough. Wear the pin on the lapel of your blazer or suit coat or as a tie tack. Happy swaggering. . . E.J. SORENSEN,CPO USN Retired

Answer 2

The Ruptured Duck military patch is a khaki-colored cloth patch in the shape of an eagle in flight with its wings spread, resting on top of an inverted V. It was issued to U.S. servicemembers who were honorably discharged or separated from service during World War II.