The 121st Combat Support Hospital Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), commonly known as a unit crest and often referred to as a DUI, was originally approved for the 121st Evacuation Hospital on 19 January 1972. It was redesignated for the 121st General Hospital on 16 April 1994 and fore the 121st Combat Support Hospital on 16 October 2006. (On 16 July 2019, the 121st Combat Support Hospital was reflagged as the 549th Hospital Center.)
A white cross, universal symbol of aid and assistance, is the focal point of the insignia. On both sides of the cross’ horizontal is an ermine spot, an image associated with Europe; they are a reference to the service of the 121st Evacuation Hospital in the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns in World War II. Three Taeguks and six golden rays streaming downward symbolize the unit’s nine campaigns in the Korean War, with two Taeguks above the cross standing for Meritorious Unit Commendations; the one in the center, combined with the white of the cross and green of the ermine spots, stands for a Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.
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The 121st Combat Support Hospital was first deployed to the European Theater during World War II while designated as the 121st Evacuation Hospital, Semimobile, departing the United States on 15 December 1944. Assigned to General George Patton’s 3rd Army, the unit opened a 400-bed mobile hospital in Badkreuznach, Germany, where it received liberated Prisoner of War internees. It later provided aid to an estimated 14,000 displaced persons after setting up camp in Neuban, Austria before returning stateside in late 1945.
In 1950, it was deployed to Korea—and has remained stationed on the peninsula ever since. In 1971, it merged with the Seoul Military Hospital to become the U.S. Army Hospital, Seoul (121st Evacuation Hospital), and in 1994 it was reorganized and redesignated as the 121st General Hospital. A dozen years later, it was reorganized again and transformed into the 121st Combat Support Hospital, a designation it held for eleven years until it was reflagged as the 549th Hospital Center in July 2019.