The U.S. Army is investigating the apparent use of a Nazi patch in a photo posted on the official Instagram account of a National Guard unit.
The photo, posted Sunday by the 20th Special Forces Group, based in Birmingham, Alabama, included a service member with a patch that appears to depict a Nazi SS Totenkopf, a specific skull-and-crossbones image that was adopted by Adolf Hitler's elite corps, Military Times reported.
The photo showed three soldiers, and the patch was visible on the back of one service member's helmet.
The post included the caption, "That weekend feeling. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Don't stop training. Don't get complacent."
After receiving comments critical of the patch, the Instagram post was deleted. However, a screenshot of the image was shared by individuals to other social media sites.
Military.com reported that the Army made conflicting statements about the patch Tuesday, following its original statement.
"The use of symbols and patches depicting historic images of hate are not tolerated and a clear violation of our values," Jacqueline Hill, a spokesperson for Army Special Operations Command, told Military.com in the statement. "We are aware of the situation and looking into the matter further."
But when an Instagram commenter asked about the Nazi imagery, the 20th Special Forces account disagreed with the characterization.
"There was not one. It's a 3rd group team patch taken out of context," it said, referencing 3rd Special Forces Group, based out of Fort Liberty, North Carolina.
The investigation comes just one month after the Montana National Guard issued an apology for its use of photos in recruiting materials that showed German soldiers marching during World War II, NBC Montana reported.
The Totenkopf is listed in the Anti-Defamation League's hate symbols database, where it's described as the symbol adopted by the SS-Totenkopfverbande, a branch of the SS that guarded concentration camps.
Neo-Nazis and other white supremacists have adopted the Totenkopf as a symbol of hate, the database states.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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