UDT-12 Da Nang

Underwater Demolition Team 12 (UDT-12) — "Frogmen," Da Nang detachment · USN · 1968-1970

Underwater Demolition Team 12 ran hydrographic reconnaissance, beach survey, and demolition work along the I Corps coast from the naval hub at Da Nang, where operators bypassed factory insignia and commissioned local Vietnamese tailors to stitch their own — the raw machine embroidery and cotton-twill backing of this cigar-chewing bush-hatted frog mark it as an in-country piece. In August 1970 the U.S. sent a handpicked squad of combat swimmers drawn from UDT-11, UDT-12, and SEAL Team One to Karlskrona, Sweden, for the naval pentathlon at the 15th Congress of the Conseil International du Sport Militaire; led by Lieutenant Kris Kirkland of UDT-12, the Americans took first place in both team and individual standings, ahead of Norway and Sweden. After the competition and joint training with Swedish attackdykare and kustjägare, an operator under Kirkland's command traded this Da Nang patch off his own gear to a Swedish counterpart — the oldest currency in special warfare. It has remained in Sweden ever since, passed from the Swedish veteran who archived it to its present custodian.