366th Tactical Fighter Wing Patch

On 14 May 1967, F-4C Phantoms of the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing shot down two MiG-17s with SUU-16 20mm gun pods, and three weeks and four gun kills later the whole theater was calling them the Gunfighters. The Phantom had gone to war with missiles only, and the Da Nang wing had hung external gun pods on its jets for air-to-air work. A MiG-21 fell on 22 May and another MiG-17 on 5 June. This patch was born out of those weeks. It shows Spook, the F-4 mascot, with an SUU-16 under his arm and the gun blazing.

The 366th came to Vietnam in pieces. The 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron deployed to Da Nang Air Base in October 1965, and wing headquarters arrived at Phan Rang in March 1966 alongside F-100 Super Sabre squadrons. On 1 October 1966 the wing was realigned to Da Nang as host unit, flying F-4C Phantom IIs with the 389th, 390th and 480th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. F-4Ds replaced the C models by May 1968, and two F-4E squadrons joined in 1969. The wing scored 18 confirmed MiG kills between 1966 and 1972. On 30 June 1972 it moved to Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, and on 31 October 1972 it was reactivated at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.

The patch is a 4 inch circle with a black merrowed border and a white outer ring. 366 TFW - DA NANG arcs across the top in heavy black letters, and "THE GUNFIGHTERS" curves along the bottom, quote marks and all. In the light blue center, Spook wears his wide-brimmed black fedora and white spats, and the striped gun pod fires a long red burst out to the right. Red streaks fly off around him like tracers. The colors are simple, black, white, blue and red, and the cartoon is pure Southeast Asia squadron art.

Col. Frederick C. "Boots" Blesse, the wing's Deputy Commander for Operations and a Korean War ace, put the patch together with his crews at Da Nang. It was never an official emblem, and that made it matter more to the men who wore it. The Gunfighter name outlived the war and the move to Idaho. In 1999 Brig. Gen. Robin E. Scott brought the patch back as a Friday morale patch for the wing's flight crews at Mountain Home, and the 366th still answers to Gunfighters today. For the crews and maintainers who turned F-4s on the Da Nang ramp, this is where it started.

It fits a shadow box with your Vietnam Service Medal and a photo on the Da Nang flight line, or the flight jacket you wear to Gunfighter reunions. It also makes a good gift for anyone who flew or fixed Phantoms. The patch has an iron-on backing and can be sewn on for a permanent hold. Wear it like the crews did.