Three patches are in this lot. The first, for the Alamo Scouts, is round with "ALAMO SCOUTS/SIXTH ARMY" in green text on a white circle surrounding a Native American head backed by the titular building. The other two bear ribbons marked "AIRBORNE/RECONNAISSANCE" above and below an eagle bearing a scroll and a winged parachute motif. One of the patches is on orange felt with gold bullion accents, the other is on rayon with a ribbon "VDEMUS(sic)/OMNIA" (appears to be a misspelling of Videmus Omnia, Latin, "We See Everything") in the eagle's beak. The Alamo Scouts were formed within the Sixth Army to serve as an organic reconnaissance and search and rescue element within the 6th. Tasked with everything from advanced scouting to targeted killing of Japanese VIPs, the Scouts earned their greatest fame for participating in the "Great Raid" on the Cabanatuan POW Camp, and members of the unit would receive a retroactive award of the Special Forces Tab in the 1980s. The Airborne Reconnaissance patches are in a style associated with a detachment of the 11th Airborne Division put together for the Los Banos Raid. Launched the month after the Cabanatuan Raid, Los Banos was a school turned internment camp housing 2,147 prisoners (chiefly civilians), and was targeted for a raid out of fear that the Japanese would liquidate the prisoners if forced to abandon the camp. Mounted by the Army and Filipino guerrilla forces, the raid involved a detailed recon by the guerrillas, a waterborne infiltration by guerrillas and 11th Airborne men (with one assault team coincidentally led by a graduate of the Alamo Scouts Training Center), and a mixed amphibious/parachute/glider landing of the main force, followed by a diversionary assault on the closest major Japanese formation and a convoy of amphibious tractors to haul out the captives. While the plan was intricate, it was executed nigh-perfectly, with the casualty ratio heavily skewed against the captors and the prisoners brought to safety. Much like the Scouts at Cabanatuan, the 11th's operation could be seen as a prototype Special Operations activity, utilizing heavy intelligence gathering and local buy-in, and achieving objectives using a combination of speed, surprise, and intensely concentrated firepower. Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection

All are very good, with minor wear and handling.