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"Hearts and
Minds"
During the Viet Nam War, President Johnson proclaimed that his
administration's goal was to
"Win the Hearts and Minds" of the Vietnamese people,
especially those sympathetic to communist North Viet Nam. SAC
B-52's were then showering the country with bombs, and this resulted in
the slogan being expanded to, "When you have them by the balls, their hearts and minds will
follow." The airman eventually realized that SAC was applying
the same philosophy to them by not permitting them to transfer from the
command. That resulted in this unique patch. |
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"To Err is
Human..."
SAC strived for perfection in everything in did. Men in other
commands may have been given a slap on the wrist for a traffic ticket,
but SAC maintained, "If a man is not responsible enough to drive a
car, he has no business around nuclear weapons." The offender
would often be kicked out the Air Force and tossed off the base by the
close of the day. This "Sundown Policy" was made
possible by issuing a general discharge under Air Force Regulation
39.16. SAC's non-forgiving attitude is reflected in this patch, a
version of "Hearts and Minds," shown above.
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"One Good Deal After Another"
The SAC fist squeezing what appears to be the SAC crow. |
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of the following four patches and their captions were provided by
John the "Cookieman." He was in SAC from 1968 until he retired in
1977. |
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"Peace Baby Peace"
"'Peace Baby Peace'" was a popular expression amongst the
anti-war freaks during Viet Nam. The 'V' for Victory hand sign was used
to signal this expression. Some enterprising SAC troop, while TDY to the
Far East, came up with the idea to modify the SAC Crest, and probably had
it made in an Okinawa Sew Shop. I think the patch sez it all." |
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"Sorry About That"
"Another popular phrase during Viet Nam. I think this
modification to the SAC Crest is sort of an anti-/anti-war demonstration
expression by the military. When I worked Minuteman, the launch crews
were always worried about their duty schedules being changed. Their
saying for this patch would have been, 'Well, I suppose this will change
the crew schedule'." |
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"We Win"
"I am sure this patch was designed by some TAC Weenie Pilot. It
aptly depicts the demise of SAC - The TAC sword piercing the SAC mailed
fist. This reminds me of a joke going around in June of 1992. Do you
know who killed SAC? The butler did it! (General Butler was the last
CINCSAC)."
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Manly Man Command
A variation on the above. |
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B-52
Deep Penetration |
"Nukes
are Cool"
44th Missile Wing |
Tankers
Sink the Tip & Take a Sip |
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