VP-23 Patches
LOGOs: VP-23 Patch "...VP-23 1975-1977..." Contributed by WOZNIAK, AE2 Douglas S. (1974-1979) [03OCT2007]
LOGOs: VP-23 Patch Contributed by AM2 Ron Beaudet rbeau3839@comcast.net [10DEC2003]
LOGOs: VP-23 Patch VW-1 Crew 5 Contributed by DEAN, ADCS George R. Retired g.dean@comcast.net [09DEC2001]
LOGOs: VP-23 Patch "...I don't know who designed it, or had it made, but they were selling them in the geedunk. Not sure for how long, but probably not very!..." Contributed by J.B. Caplinger jcap@email.com [30OCT99]
LOGOs: VP-23 Patch "...VPB-23 Circa 1944-1945..." Contributed by Francis H. Clifton FHCPBYFOR@webtv.net [08FEB99]
LOGOs: VP-23 Patch "...Used unofficially as sort of an unofficial emblem..." Contributed by AWCS(AW/NAC) Jeffrey S. Morris 2yankeesfan15@comcast.net
LOGOs: http://cwis.usc.edu/dept/nrotc/stangl/index.html
"...squadron patch went over to look like the Seattle Sea Hawk logo. It occured when the first P3C arrived in the Squadron. I was the one responsible for the date because after my Change of Command I was stashed at WingsLant to write the five year employment plan prior to going to Saratoga as the Navigator. Needless to say VP-23 was right after VP-8 (going from P3As) to get the new Charlie...The bottom patch (i.e. the bird carrying the mines) existed up until the P3C transition. The CO at the time had to get special permission from OPNAV to get it changed. There was some history written at the time about it in support of getting the change. As I recall after reading that request/history, the squadron name "Sea Hawks" and the patch had existed prior to 1955-58. When I had the squadron the Seattle Sea Hawks came into existence and there was a big contest to select their name. Once chosen some yahoo sent a letter to Sports Illustrated bad-mouthing the name. I had my Admin. officer (Roger Baffer) draft up a letter in response. He included much of the history of the squadron. Sports Illustrated must have forwarded the letter to the Sea Hawk organization because we got a response signed out by Vince Lombardy Jr. inviting us to their opening game in Seattle. Unfortunately, we couldn't send an aircraft and crew..." Contributed by George R. Allender, Captain USN Ret. gallende@arinc.com
LOGOs: VP-23 Patch "...VP-23 Logo..." Contributed by Glenn Tweedy wgt-srt@worldnet.att.net [E-Mail Updated 26SEP98]
LOGOs: Contributed by AWCS(AW/NAC) Jeffrey S. Morris 2yankeesfan15@comcast.net
"...As is always the case when a squadron transitions from one model aircraft to another, there is a period of ebb and flow as new aircraft come and old favorites go. The first P3CUpdate II in VP-23 to sport the redesigned tail insignia was LJ-9. I remember vividly the sweating efforts of the metal shop to make the many sections of the aluminum template used for the new design ( I believe AMSC Hank Roekers was the supervisor at the time, but I may be mistaken).
The new design on LJ-9 did not get immediate raves either from VP-23 people or the NAS Brunswick VP community as a whole. There was something slightly overstuffed about the first application and it became immediately, universally, and irreverently known as "The Sea Chicken"; in fact when flying commercially around the area I personally overheard NASB ATC refer to it by that name.
One late summer evening I was standing on the upper deck of our hangar looking out at LJ-9 on the hangar deck and my PPC and CO, CDR Hank Davis came up and stood beside me. After a suitably pregnant pause he asked me what I thought of the new design. After some diplomatic maneuvering I confessed that while the design held promise, it looked entirely too docile as a symbol for the first squadron to be equipped with the Harpoon and V6 acoustics. I remember as we stood there we re-sketched the design slightly on the back of a flight schedule rough, flattening the bird's head and raking the end of the beak and the forehead slightly. The Skipper also thought the eyes were too round and surprised looking.
Whether that informal conversation was a watershed moment for the CO or not I certainly don't know but I do know that shortly thereafter LJ-9 was brought into the hangar, the design was painted out, and the long suffering metal shop altered the template and came up with the more severe looking effort that graced the stabilizer on our Iceland-Dodge deployment...and all the references to "Sea Chicken" became remarkably muted...Roger A. Jurack CWO3 USN (Ret) out2pasture@iowatelecom.net..." [26AUG2000]
"...I have for sale ($7.50 each - postage paid) is the one submitted by Jeffrey S. Morris. On the ones I have, the brown has slightly more red in it, but other than that, it's identical. A former officer sent me a colored copy of the patch and I commissioned them to be manufactured. The color and quality is much better than the originals. Plus, they (the patches) are much more vivid and exciting than what the squadron ended up with before being decommissioned...Contact Jon Bond JBONDUSA@aol.com..." [17MAY2000]
"...the old patch (which I like much better than the new one)...when I left the squadron in 1977 was still alive and well (so was the squadron). George Allender (he was my CO) admits that he had something to do with the change after he left the squadron. I'll have to take that up with him someday!..." Contributed by Stan Reid stanr@county.org
"...We did change the tailfeathers on the airplanes when we transitioned in 1979. The actual patch change did not occur until 5 years later midway through the 84 -85 Sigonella deployment. As I recall it had been turned down the first time somewhere up the chain, or maybe it just took that long! The geedunk gave away stickers of the old "bowling ball & trashcan" emblem by the dozens as we changed to the new Seahawk patch..." Contributed by AWCS(AW/NAC) Jeffrey S. Morris 2yankeesfan15@comcast.net
"...Re the new VP-23 patch - (tailfeathers insignia put on the new Update A/C in 1979 when CDR Hank Davis was CO). If you look closely at the artist's depictions of the first P-3 Harpoon shoot, you'll see the tailfeathers. To give credit where due, the design was created by LCDR Chuck Osier who was my Ops Officer when I had VP-23. Chuck eventually had command of VQ-4 (I think)..." Contributed by Capt D. W. Medara USN(Ret) Dmedara@aol.com[30JAN99]
LOGOs: VP-23 Patch The VP-23 logo (See A BIT OF HISTORY below) is all hand sewn. It was made before they had the sewing machines that did it automatically. The patch is on the flight jacket that Harold wore at that time..." Contributed by Joseph A. Palsha richardpalsha@gmail.com [13JAN98]
LOGOs: VP-23 Patch "...Hurricane Hunter - Circa 1949 to 1952..." Contributed by George B. Winter pbycat@bellsouth.net WEBSITE: http://www.vpnavy.com/winter.html Editor: "UP-FLOATS Newsletter(s) [09NOV98]
LOGOs: VP-23 Patch "...Yet another version of the squadron patch in use circa 1976. I used to call this one the "Flying Can Opener" as opposed to the "Enraged Parakeet" in the other two versions. I was glad to see the emblem change in 1979 with the transition to the Up-date III. The thought at the time was since VP-23 was going to be the lead squadron to qualify with the Harpoon ASM, and assume a stronger role in ASUW, the tail insignia should be more aggressive than that which focused on mines..." Contributed by William P. (Bill) Gore williampgore@att.net [15DEC98]
LOGOs: VP-23 Patch [27MAY99]
LOGOs: VP-23 Patch "...WWII give away by Kellogg's PEP cereal..." [13MAR99]
"VP-23 Summary Page"
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