ITEMS LEFT AT THE WALL

Non-military issue, commemorative U.S. Navy Task Force 116 Mobile Riverine Force beret flash dedicated to U.S. Navy Yeoman First Class (YN1) Oliver Earl Durham. The insignia consists of a white background field with a blue field at the center surmounted by a scarlet shield, trimmed in embroidered gold bullion thread. Similar embroidered gold bullion thread spell the phrases, "RIVER PATROL FORCE / TF-116", while the same gold bullion thread creates four (4) distinct lightning flashes, the form of a sword point-up and flanked at either side by castles, and a triangle and representation of a sword point-down along the lower edge of the blue field. The River Patrol Task Force 116 was organized on 18 December 1965 and assigned to brown water operations within South Vietnam's extensive inland waterways. The artifact was left at The Wall as part of a larger artifact assemblage (VIVE (4647 & 4649)) by Paul R. Salley on Veterans Day, November 11, 1986. (Source: Mobile Riverine Force Association- www.mrfa.org/tf116.htm)

NON-MILITARY ISSUE, COMMEMORATIVE CLOTH PATCH U.S. NAVY TASK FORCE 116 MOBILE RIVERINE FORCE BERET FLASH (FULL COLOR) DEDICATED TO U.S. NAVY YEOMAN FIRST CLASS (YN1) OLIVER EARL DURHAM. THE OBJECT CONSISTS OF A CIRCULARLY SHAPED WHITE FABRIC BACKGROUND FIELD WITH A CIRCULARLY SHAPED BLUE FABRIC FIELD AT THE CENTER SURMOUNTED BY A SCARLET FABRIC SHIELD, ALL TRIMMED IN RAISED, EMBROIDERED GOLD BULLION THREAD. SIMILAR RAISED, EMBROIDERED GOLD BULLION THREAD AT THE UPPER AND AND LOWER EDGES OF THE FLASH SPELL THE PHRASE, "RIVER PATROL FORCE" [UPPER] AND, "TF-116" [LOWER] IN BLOCK SCRIPT/ARABIC NUMERALS, WHILE THE SAME GOLD THREAD CREATES FOUR (4) DISTINCT LIGHTNING FLASHES INSIDE THE CIRCULAR BLUE FIELD BELOW AND TO THE PROPER LEFT- AND RIGHT-HAND SIDES OF THE SCARLET SHIELD. INSIDE THE SHIELD, THE GOLD BULLION THREAD CREATES THE FORM OF A SWORD POINT-UP FLANKED ON THE PROPER LEFT- AND RIGHT-HAND SIDES BY TWO (2) CASTLES, ALL OF WHICH APPEARS ABOVE A GOLD TRIANGLE AND REPRESENTATION OF A SWORD POINT-DOWN ALONG THE LOWER EDGE OF THE BLUE CIRCULAR FIELD. THE BERET FLASH IS ENCASED WITHIN A CLEAR, POLY-PLASTIC SLEEVE AND IS SEWN TO THE OBVERSE OBJECT SURFACE OF A BLACK, NON-MILITARY ISSUE, U.S. NAVY BERET (VIVE (4697)). FROM THE CRUDE EXECUTION OF THE DESIGN AND THE CONTEXT OF THE BERET TO WHICH IT IS AFFIXED, THE FLASH APPEARS TO BE HANDMADE AND WAS LIKELY PRODUCED, 'IN-COUNTRY' IN VIETNAM [?] THE RIVER PATROL FORCE TASK FORCE 116 WAS ORGANIZED ON 18 DEC 1965, AND WAS ASSIGNED TO BROWN WATER OPERATIONS WITHIN SOUTH VIETNAM'S EXTENSIVE INLAND WATERWAYS. (SOURCE: MOBILE RIVERINE FORCE ASSOCIATION- WWW.MRFA.ORG/TF116.HTM) THE OBJECT IS ASSOCIATED WITH VIVE (4647 & 4649).

Text of the embroidered inscriptions at the obverse object surface is transcribed in full, as follows; "RIVER PATROL FORCE / TF-116"

Item Weight: 100.0g (Collective weight of VIVE (4648 & 4647))
Item Depth: 6.75cm (Diameter) / 21.2cm (Circumference)