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LOT 350
Grouping of Patches and Artifacts from a Sailor
of the Sino-American Cooperation Organization
(SACO) - Per statements from the consignor, all items
in this lot are the personal property of Donald Anthony
Cofone, a U.S. Navy radioman deployed to China as
part of Navy Group China and the Sino-American
Cooperation Organization (SACO, aka the Sino-American
Special Technical Cooperative Organization). Established in 1943, SACO was a joint Nationalist/American operation headed up in tandem
by the chief of Chiang Kai-Shek’s secret police and the commander of U.S. Naval Group - China, the U.S. Navy’s intelligence outfit in China.
The SACO served as an intelligence gathering/sharing organization as well as a training center for Chinese guerrilla forces operating in
Japanese occupied territory and other tasks. While the Organization ended in 1946 with the departure of Naval Group China, the Chinese
components of SACO were active participants in the Chinese Civil War, and the Americans were accused of complicity in their actions
by the Communists. Available information indicates that Cofone hailed from Port Chester, New York, graduating from training in 1943
and being deployed to China shortly after. In civilian life he settled in California, passing on in 1970. Contents include: 1) A SACO patch,
3 1/2 inch diameter embroidered/printed, with the SACO “???!!!***” pennant on an anchor and Nationalist Star. 2) “Dragon” patch, 3 3/4
inch diameter, embroidered with leather backing, with American and Nationalist Stars and USN anchor. 3) CBI “shield” shoulder patch
modified with anchor device, 2 1/2 inches wide. 4) Leather SACO name tag with Cofone’s name. 5) SACO “pennant patch, 3 inches long,
embroidered. 6) Small cloth tag with SACO pennant, 1 3/8 inches long. 7) Enamel SACO lapel pin. 8) Vintage photograph of two sailors,
hand marked “Me & Tom 1945”. 9) A laminated ID card identifying Cofone as a member of the Ancient Order of the Deep, noting him as
having crossed the equator aboard the troop ship USS General George M. Randall. 10) A printed rayon “blood chit”, 8 inches wide and 10
inches long, with the Nationalist flag, red ink seal, and ID number “W 43127”.
CONDITION: Very good overall, with wear appropriate to age. Some of the small items show signs of having been glued into a scrapbook.
Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection.
Estimate: 1,100 - 1,600
LOT 349
Grouping of Patches and Artifacts from a Member of the Sino-American Cooperation Organization (SACO) - The contents of the lot are
attributed by the consignor to a R.D. Ervin of the U.S. Naval Reserve; records are scarce, but they are described as a member of Naval Group China
and the Sino-American Cooperation Organization (SACO); also known as the Sino-American Special Technical Cooperative Organization, the SACO
was established in 1943 as a joint Nationalist/American operation headed up in tandem by the chief of Chiang Kai-Shek’s secret police and the
commander of the U.S. Navy’s intelligence outfit in China. The SACO served as an intelligence gathering/sharing organization as well as a training
center for Chinese guerrilla forces operating in Japanese occupied territory and other tasks. Group includes: 1) Leather “blood chit”, 9 3/4 inches wide
and 8 inches tall, with a blue leather anchor applied to the front and post-war hand-written markings on the rear. 2) SACO patch, leather construction
with the Nationalist Star on a yellow anchor. 3) SACO patch, leather construction with the “???!!!***” pennant logo in the center and “U.S. NAVY/CHINA”
in paint around the exterior. 4) Two gold “U.S.N.” lapel pins and a “fouled anchor” silver USN pin. 5) Leather nametag, marked “R.D.Ervin - U.S.N.R.”. 6)
Twelve photos, showing soldier and field scenes, with some mounted on cardboard with hand written notes attributing them to China in 1945.
CONDITION: Good overall. The patches and chit show signs of being attached to a jacket, with the chit showing some smudging/fading of the
markings and mild cracking. One of the USN lapel pins is bent.
Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection.
Estimate: 2,000 - 3,500
LOT 348
Very Rare Patch for a Sino-American Cooperation Organization (SACO) “Roger Group” - The Sino-American
Cooperation Organization (SACO), also known as the Sino-American Special Technical Cooperative Organization, was
established in 1943 as a joint Nationalist/American operation headed up in tandem by the chief of Chiang Kai-Shek’s
secret police and the commander of the U.S. Navy’s intelligence outfit in China. Much of their activity related to
intelligence gathering and aiding their Chinese counterparts (weather forecasting and spotting incoming Japanese
air raids in particular were a pretty serious boon to CBI operations), but there were also a limited number of U.S. Navy
amphibious scouts and raiders for direct action and clandestine reconnaissance and mapping of the Chinese coast
in anticipation of a possible amphibious landing. Assigned the codename of “Amphibious Roger” and known as the
“Roger Group”, many of these men got hung up in Calcutta due to inter-service conflicts (the U.S. Army controlled
movement into China and quarreled with Naval Group China over control and coordination of intelligence operations
in China), several did manage to get in and execute their missions. The insignia measures 2 1/2 inches wide and 3 1/2
inches long, embroidered on a patch of tan twill cloth, with the text “ROGER” over a scene of an arm emerging from a
burning pit holding a flagpole topped with a skull, bearing a flag of a snake armed with a cutlass coiled around a skull,
with lightning radiating from the flag. Included copies of correspondence between a prior owner and a former SACO/
Roger member named Gene Terres, who notes himself as among the men of “Roger II”, one of the Roger units that was
held up in India. His narrative notes that while some of Roger II did make it into China via the Stilwell Road,
he was not among them.
CONDITION: The emblem is in very good condition, with minor wear and some light stains on the surrounding cloth.
Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection.
Estimate: 1,800 - 2,750