Vintage U.S. Military Insignia
My father, Fred Wagner, Jr, was a proud Marine serving in the 2nd Division of the United States Marine Corps. He collected U.S. military insignia for more than 40 years, focusing on patches worn from World War 2 through the Korean War, approximately 1941–1953.
Most of these were found at flea markets and garage sales. While reproductions were available at military surplus stores, his collection included only authentic, worn patches. There was a soldier behind each one of these.
This collection was an expression of his admiration for those who wore them – his peers and the Greatest Generation just before them.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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Fred Wagner, Jr. (1930–2015)
U.S. Army Air Forces
The U.S. Army Air Forces would become the U.S. Air Force – a separate branch of the military – in 1947.
