Vietnam era patch legit?

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I found this patch locally. Any opinions as to its authenticity?

Information

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[matthanne1]

I would call it locally made, ie local to SE Asia based on the stitching style. You could have anything made, cheaply and quickly, which precluded being made well.

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Theater patch was my guess as well.

[Flying10uk]

There is one U.K. dealer that I see at shows a couple of times a year who goes out to Vietnam to purchase items of interest to bring back to sell on his stall and on his website. One item that I noticed which caught my eye when I last saw his stall at a show was a Vietnamese "knock off copy" of a U.S. army wrist watch. If memory serves me correctly he had several examples for sale. They looked like good quality watches and well made but, no disrespect to the Vietnamese "craftsman" who made them, I have to wonder if they work as well as the U.S. made originals? Another item that he had for sale was the iconic NVA pith helmet.

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I suppose to some degree the difference in the number of troops that served WWII & Korea vs the Vietnam war dictates the lack of artifacts available for the latter. Perhaps some more painful reasons as well.

[Paul S.]

There were all manner of locally patches available in Vietnam (in-country) back in the day. Some were official unit patches and others unofficial 'moral' patches such as the one depicted above. There were also locally made sub-unit (company, platoon, detachment etc.) patches made up for esprit de corps. The collector/buyer needs to be care though since tonnes of 'counterfeits' have been made since then.

---------- Post added at 09:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:36 PM ----------

There are a lot of reasons for the lack of artifacts. The ratio of support to combat troops is one. Military regulation and 'interference' is another. Most American service members came and went as individuals loaded in bulk on chartered airliners, except for the early days major deployments and regular USMC battalion rotations, so it was not practicable to cart off a great mass of captured kit.

[Sarge]

That patch was one of 2 available, both were basicly the same except different wording. The other one was "Tonking Gulf Yatch Club." I think I have both.
I spent the first 4+ months at SF Hq in Nha Trang. Since I had collected WW 2 German military since I was in high school I had some knowledge of what might sell back home and what I personally wanted. The PX at Cam Rhan Bay had rows of boxes of patches of every imaginable sort so I bought a few of each and sent them home. I also picked up several of each of what was available for SF from our supply room and sent them home. I spent the next 5 + years selling what I didn't want at gun/militaria shows.
I also had a couple of Zippo cigarette lighters engraved and sent home, a slim for the wife and a regular for me. I carried both in the field for a while before sending them home.
I took a ruskie Makerov to Hawaii on R&R and gave to the wife to take home. I also mailed home a bunch of captured VC/NVA uniforms & equipment and brought home a Browning Hi-Power and 2 SKSs. I gave a buddy an SKS to bring home for me since he wasn't taking home a war trophy firearm. That one I later sold, which was why I sent it home.
So, yes it was possible to get a lot of stuff home, IF you knew the ropes and paid attention to the regs. Also SF and a MACV were permitted to bring home three (3) war trophy firearms where the rest of the military was only allowed one (1). Beats the hell out of me why this was, but I took full advantage of it!!! And I've got the war trophy papers for all of them to prove it - including the Makerov which I had papered before going on R & R, so I actually brought home 4 firearms.
Oh and I had bought the the Browning HP at a gun shop outside the main gate of Ft Lewis, Wn on my way to RVN so I have both a bill of sale from them AND war trophy papers for that one. I carried the Browning the whole time I was in country.
Sarge

[Flying10uk]

Here is the dealer's page that I referred to earlier: indo china collectables.1

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That patch was one of 2 available, both were basicly the same except different wording. The other one was "Tonking Gulf Yatch Club." I think I have both.

1. Glad you made it back.
2. Thank you for your service.
3. Thanks for sharing your story in detail.

[Flying10uk]

Are there many U.S, Veterans going back to visit Vietnam now in recent years, now that it's opened up to tourists?