Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a Distinctive Unit Insignia is worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. It is worn centered on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) and the blue Army Service Uniform (ASU, Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
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The 108th Medical Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved on 15 June 1927 for the 108th Medical Regiment. It was redesignated on 18 September 1942 for the 108th Medical Battalion, then had its description amended on 23 May 1969. Most recently (September 2008) it was amended to update both the description and the symbolism.
A gold bend dexter (diagonal from viewer’s top left to lower right) divides the shield into maroon and white halves, the two colors of the Army Medical Department. On the maroon half is the image of a structure that is the Chaussée Gate of Verdun, surrounded by three mullets (stars); the Chaussée Gate is taken from the Verdun medal, and along with the stars stands for the unit’s participation in four major engagements in World War I, with the primary action in the area of Verdun.
In the white half is a coiled rattlesnake that represents the unit’s service along the Mexican border. Serving as the shield’s crest is the Fort Dearborn Block House, one of the first and most famous of the military establishments in the Northwest Territory. represents one of the earliest and most famous of the military establishments of the United States in the Northwest Territory. Missing from the 108th Medical Battalion is the unit motto, the Latin word SERVAMUS, which translates into English as “We Conserve.”