In October 1943 the 509th PIB was detached from the 82nd Airborne Division and was attached to the U.S. 5th Army. To distinguish and instill pride in the unit, Lt Col. Yarborough directed Henry "Bud" Pardieck to design a patch. The stick figure was reminiscent of the Native American paintings. The design became an instant hit with the troops. The patch was made in Piscinola, Italy, local seamstresses were paid in bartered goods. The patch was never officially recognized by the Department of the Army, however, it was locally authorized for wear by General Mark Clark while the unit was guarding 5th Army Headquarters in Italy, and subsequently worn by members of the 509th for the remainder of World War II. Typically, this patch was worn on left chest of winter 'tanker' combat jackets, A-2 leather jackets, B-10 jackets, M41 field jackets and the B-3 leather jacket. Renowned for their tongue-in-cheek humor, the Paratroopers of World War II began referring to the Geronimo Patch as the Gingerbread Man due to the appearance of the Little Man in the Door a term that has remained associated with the patch to this day.
SYMBOLISM: The gold arch represents the jump door of the C-47 Skytrain twin-engine aircraft predominantly used by Paratroopers for their Airborne invasion. The gold Little Man in the Door represents the Jumpmaster prepared to exit the aircraft. The name GERONIMO appearing at the base of the patch was a popular epithet adopted by Paratroopers to express or bolster their feelings of courage upon exiting the aircraft while in flight.
1st Pattern - Original cotton thread on wool patch belonging to Warren Boehmke
1st Pattern - Original cotton thread on wool patch belonging to Edwin Solak. Ed Solak bought this patch from a street vendor with one pack of cigarettes (photo courtesy Mark Bando)
1st pattern bullion on wool patch belonging to Boggs G. Collins.
Original 1st pattern bullion on wool patch on a B-10 Jacket. Note that bullion tubular cord is used only on numbers and letters. (Sycamore Collection)
Original 1st pattern bullion on wool patch on the right lower sleeve of an officers jacket. What is unique about this patch besides being on the sleeve is that it is smaller than a jacket patch and larger than a beret patch. (Sycamore Collection)
2nd Pattern - Original bullion wire and tubular cord on wool patch belonging to Edwin Solak. Ed Solak bought this patch from a street vendor with one pack of cigarettes. One photo exists of 1st Lt. Justin McCarthy wearing this style of patch on a B-10 Jacket in Southern France. It is the webmasters opinion that this run was made at a different location than the first run of 509th patches in Piscinola, Italy. It was likely made at another location in Italy. The first run of 509th patches have a consistent pattern with a thicker man, larger numbers and a squared zero. The consistancy of design was maintained by the use of card paper in which the design was traced and cut out. The seamstress would then stitch over the card paper cutout. It is evident that this example used a different card paper design which resulted in a larger head, thinner arms, thinner legs and thinner chest reserve. It appears that no card paper is used to make the numbers on this pattern. You will also notice that bullion tubular cord is additionally used on the head and door frame which is also different from the 1st pattern.(photo courtesy Mark Bando)
Charlie Mask wearing 1st pattern bullion on wool patch on M41 Field Jacket.
Louis Crowder wearing 1st pattern bullion on wool patch on Winter Combat 'Tanker' Jacket.
Bud Siegel wearing 1st pattern cotton thread on wool patch on A-2 Leather Jacket.
Lt Col. William Yarborough wearing cotton patch which appears to have been painted or printed. It is on a Winter Combat 'Tanker' Jacket.
Paul Huff stands next to Warren Boehmke who is wearing the 1st pattern cotton thread on wool patch in a most unusual location
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