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Editors Note: This article is part of a series featuring veterans of American Wars. It was revised to reflect corrections made on Dec. 11, 2024. 

Receiving a treasure trove of military artifacts is nothing new or unusual for Stephen Farrell, special collections curator at Brown Library. Most recently, Dick Leach, a namesake of the Eureka Lumber Mill, which was owned by George T. Leach, dropped off several Navy uniforms. As Farrell would determine, they were those of Dick’s brother, John Sabin Leach, Jr., who enlisted in the Navy back in 1962. “One of the wool Navy jumpers and trousers caught my attention,” said Farrell. “To my surprise, I found a vibrant colored design sewn on the inside of the pant’s waistline, the inside of the wrist cuffs, and a dragon emblem near the neck area on the inside of the jumper. This, of course, really got my curiosity going.”

As Farrell learned, these vibrant hand-sewn designs were called liberty cuffs. Together with the Dragon patches, they were a way for the sailors to discreetly express their personal style and often their ship or unit affiliation. Their dress blues would become a canvas for one’s personal expressions and also included custom-made zippers and elaborate silk dragon patches that were sewn on the inside of the uniforms. Together, they would often represent power, bravery, and protection, aligning with the sailor’s role at sea. “Though the history is a bit sketchy, it is believed the origins of the liberty cuffs and hand-stitched dragons on silk panels began in the late 1800s or early 1900s,” said Farrell. “They were customized for each sailor and sold to them as souvenirs of their visits to Asian ports. When the Navy banned the decorative stitching on uniform cuffs in 1910, the sailors resorted to secretly having the inside of the cuffs embroidered and would only roll up their sleeves during shore leave. This became very popular during World War II, particularly with the Asiatic Fleet.”

Leach was born on April 7, 1940, in Palm Beach, Florida. He moved to Washington with his parents, John Sabin Leach and Elizabeth McPhail Leach, when his father returned to run the family-owned Eureka Lumber Mill. Leach would go on to attend Duke University and receive a degree in economics. Upon graduation in 1962, he enlisted in the Navy. He attended Naval Officers Candidate School in New Port, Rhode Island. Later that year, he was assigned to the USS Catamount LSD 17, a dock landing ship that could carry a combination of landing craft and landing vehicles. “The main port for the USS Catamount was San Diego,” said Farrell. “I have to believe that is where he had the stitch work and dragon patch done to his Navy blues. It was all a form of self-expression, a right of passage, and a sense of camaraderie with his fellow sailors.”

Leach never saw combat during the early years of the Vietnam War and, after two years of service, received his honorable discharge. He came home to live in Washington, DC, where he worked for National Savings and Trust. Upon his retirement, he moved back to Palm Beach, Florida. In 2002, he returned to Washington, NC, where he lived for the remaining 20 years of his life. “Though Leach was not a combat veteran, his service should be celebrated just like any other Washingtonian who served our country,” said Farrell. “His uniform offers a unique look at a Naval tradition that has been ongoing for over 120 years. It represents one more needle that is threaded in the fabric of our history.”