‘Demon’ brigade Soldiers put on historic patches during deployment

Photo By Bob Harrison | A throwback patch sets on the right arm of a Soldier following being pinned during the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, combat patch ceremony Oct. 28 in Afghanistan. The patch was designed to follow specifications outlined in 1918 in celebration of the patch’s 98-year anniversary. (Bob Harrison, U.S. Forces Afghanistan public affairs)  

AFGHANISTAN

11.18.2016

Story by Sgt. Michael Roach 

19th Public Affairs Detachment

In celebration of the 98th anniversary of the “Big Red One” patch, Soldiers from the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, were presented with hand-sewn combat patches during a ceremony Oct. 28 at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan.

Capt. Grant E. Cuprak, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st CAB, came up with the idea for the historical spin on his unit’s combat patches during a staff trip to the First Division Museum at Cantigny in May before their deployment. Cuprak said he was discussing with his company’s first sergeant how to best execute the company’s combat patch ceremony when the idea came up.

“After we decided to try to do this idea, I reached out to the awesome staff at the First Division Museum, including Mr. Andrew Woods and Mr. John Maniatis, who were able to scan those memorandums so we could re-create the patches,” Cuprak said. “It was interesting to see the documents and how it played out. First a red five inch ‘1’ was proposed. Then the Oct. 28, 1918, version, which was really the 'grandfather' to the patch (OD green with the red ‘1’). And then the version published and utilized—the memorandum 15 version—dated Nov. 23, 1918.”

Curprak and his unit decided to expand on the experience by holding the combat patch ceremony on Oct. 28, 98 years to the date of the grandfather-patch telegram. A priority for them was keeping as many of the original details as possible with the new throwback patches.

“The patches themselves took a good bit of work,” Cuprak said. “It was difficult finding and ordering wool that was to the time period. Chief Warrant Officer 5 Sam Baker, 1st Sergeant David Green, Staff Sgt. Tara Schneider and Spc. Travis Simmons all helped in the process of making them.”

The ceremony, as well as the meaning behind it, was met with enthusiasm by the “Demon” Soldiers who participated, Cuprak said.

“The ceremony went awesome,” Cuprak said. “We had many Soldiers who are on night schedules get up in the middle of their rest period to be a part of it. Several Soldiers have gotten extra patches and have sent them to friends in the Division Headquarters and 1st Inf. Div. Artillery in Iraq so they can also wear them as combat patches too. A couple other Soldiers have set aside their patch to give to their fathers who were in the BRO years ago.”

Equally enthusiastic about the idea were historians from the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois, who offered help with researching through their collection of artifacts.

“With the current division looking back to its origins, I think that’s definitely something very special,” said John Maniatis, registrar at the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park. “It is good to know that you are part of a long chain of individuals who have put that patch on their shoulder and do so with pride.”

Maniatis, an archaeologist, first became interested in the history of the Big Red One patch after noticing the slight variations in the museum’s collection. Comparing the dimensions of surviving insignia with instructions put out through memorandums in 1918 during the patch’s inception led him to become a resident expert on the subject for the museum. When the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade contacted the museum for input on making the throwback patches, Maniatis helped give them the original specifications.

“When you think of the modern Army and its practices, things are standardized for ease of use (and) for the sake of keeping things simple,” Maniatis said. “But, in those early years it didn’t really work out that way. You didn’t have a contracted manufacturer for it.”
The patch was the result of an Army-wide need to better identify Soldiers based on their unit during the close of World War I, according to Maniatis.

“When the first division went to war in the first world war, the only way to identify yourself was through your regiment,” Maniatis said. “You had Soldiers writing their names let’s say on their gas mask bags. The gas mask bag is right on their chest and (it would say) you’re ‘Sgt. Smith’ and you’re ‘26th Infantry,’ that’s how you’re known. There were no shoulder insignia to say that ‘I’m part of the 1st Division.’ There was no BRO yet.”

Maniatis was able to trace the origin of the BRO patch to a set of recovered memorandums and telegrams released between October and December 1918.

“Memorandum number 15 dated Nov. 23, 1918 … informed all Soldiers of the division what the newly approved 1st Division insignia looked like,” Maniatis said. While the memorandum designated the quartermasters were responsible for furnishing the red cloth to make the number ones, it was also stated that the olive drab green cloth would not be furnished in time.

With only a part of the patch being furnished by the unit in 1918, original patches were constructed in myriad shapes and sizes, according to Miniatis.

“So the quartermaster is furnishing the red number ones, but it was really up to the Soldiers to get that green shield background on there,” Miniatis said. “Which explains that when you look at our collection you might have shields that are oval, (or) shields that are round on the top. A lot of these things were more than likely made by local tailors in the area where they were on occupation duty and a lot of guys probably made it themselves.”

“It’s kind of interesting to see that at the begging of the war you’re identifying with your smaller unit, your regiment or field artillery battery and by the end of the war you’re identifying with the division,” Maniatis said. “The Soldiers had to realize that they were part of a much larger organization.”

For Cuprak, coupling his unit’s current accomplishments with the lineage of the patch presented an opportunity to reflect on the unit’s history and legacy.

“I think the idea was a great way to honor the history of the First Division,” Cuprak said. “The brigade commander's reading list for the deployment included ‘First Over There’ and ‘The Big Red One,’ and these books have really helped in reflecting on what being deployed in the upcoming 100th anniversary year means. It is pretty humbling to consider the harsh, austere conditions the original First Division Soldiers endured on the Western Front compared to the current posh conditions here on U.S. bases in Afghanistan. We stand on those Soldiers’ shoulders and I think the patch acknowledges we are progenies of their legacy.”

• Date Taken: 11.18.2016
• Date Posted: 11.18.2016 12:56
• Story ID: 215171
• Location: AF