{"product_id":"official-army-178th-box-cars-chinook-patch","title":"Official Army 178th Box Cars Chinook Patch","description":"\u003cp\u003eOfficial Army 178th Box Cars Chinook Patch - 178th Assault Support Helicopter Company (ASHC) Box Cars CH-47 Chinook Vietnam-Era Embroidered Patch.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBox Cars of Chu Lai, medium lift muscle, and the Americal Division's lifeline stitched into one enduring emblem.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 178th Assault Support Helicopter Company arrived in Vietnam in April 1966 and relocated to Chu Lai as part of Task Force Oregon, where the unit earned the callsign Box Cars and built a reputation for heavy-lift performance that few CH-47 Chinook companies could match. Reassigned in January 1968 to the 17th Combat Aviation Group under the Americal Division in the I Corps Tactical Zone, the 178th became the first Chinook company in Vietnam to receive the upgraded B-model Chinook with the more powerful L-7C engine and the first to lift a complete 155mm howitzer weighing 12,500 pounds. At the battle of Kham Duc in May 1968, Box Cars crews flew 19 sorties and evacuated 774 personnel, almost entirely U.S. soldiers, under sustained enemy fire. By February 1968 the unit had logged 20,000 flight hours, and within eleven months it reached 30,000, a pace that reflected the relentless demand for medium lift across remote fire bases throughout I Corps. The Box Cars callsign, drawn from the dice marking of double sixes, became synonymous with the kind of reliable, high-stakes cargo and personnel movement that kept Americal Division soldiers supplied and alive on isolated landing zones across the Vietnamese highlands.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePerfect For: Army aviation veterans, CH-47 Chinook crew members and maintainers, 178th ASHC alumni, Americal Division collectors, Vietnam War historians, shadow box builders, unit reunion displays, challenge coin and patch boards, and anyone assembling a serious Army aviation collection around Vietnam-era assault support heritage. It is also a meaningful gift for families of Boxcar veterans who want a researched, unit-specific piece that honors the flight hours, the howitzer lifts, and the evacuation missions that defined the 178th's service in I Corps.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBox Cars heritage, earned at altitude over Chu Lai and carried forward in every stitch.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Military, Law Enforcement and Custom Patches by USMCinsignia.com","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67685221662829,"sku":"013","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0742\/9831\/files\/5A066001_4B57B75B.61C9B36A00000000.jpg?v=1791483521","url":"https:\/\/marinepatches.com\/products\/official-army-178th-box-cars-chinook-patch","provider":"MarinePatches.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}