101st Airborne Division Screaming Eagles Patch

The eagle on the 101st patch goes back to Old Abe, the bald eagle a Wisconsin regiment carried into battle in the Civil War. The division was activated on 16 August 1942 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. Its first commander, Maj. Gen. William C. Lee, told the new troopers that the 101st had no history, but it had a rendezvous with destiny. Less than two years later it was jumping into Normandy. Every Screaming Eagle since has worn the same white head on black.

In the early hours of 6 June 1944, 101st paratroopers dropped behind Utah Beach to seize the causeway exits. In September 1944 they jumped into the Netherlands for Operation Market Garden. That December the division held the crossroads town of Bastogne, surrounded, and when the Germans demanded surrender Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe answered NUTS! In Vietnam the 1st Brigade arrived in 1965 and the full division in 1967, fighting at Hamburger Hill and Firebase Ripcord. The 101st became airmobile in 1968 and an air assault division in 1974, and in January 1991 its AH-64 Apaches fired the first shots of Desert Storm.

This is the larger version, 3.5 inches wide by 5 inches tall, with a cut edge and a sew-on back. The AIRBORNE tab is stitched as one piece with the shield, gold letters on black. Below it the eagle head faces left, white feathers ending in a ragged edge at the neck, gold beak open and red tongue showing. The black field is plain, so the eagle carries the whole design.

Fort Campbell, Kentucky, has been the division's home for decades, and the patch is one of the most recognized in the Army. A trooper who wore it may have been at Bastogne, at Ripcord, deep in Iraq in 1991, or in Mosul in 2003. The men from each generation recognize each other by it before anyone says a word. That is what the eagle is for.

At this size it fits the shoulder of a jacket, a rucksack or a range bag, and it holds its own in a shadow box with jump wings and an air assault badge. It is a good gift for a Screaming Eagle or for a family member who wants to honor one. We also carry a full back patch for a vest.