12 Oct 1961 First Public wearing of the Green Beret

**Team Sergeant** · 10-12-2011, 14:23

12 Oct 61: The first public wearing of the green beret, coinciding with a briefing and Gabriel demonstration for President John F. Kennedy at McKellars Pond, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

This remarkable visit was to demonstrate to the president that the unconventional threat to our nation could best be countered by new kinds of strategies and new kinds of forces.

The green beret, personally authorized by Kennedy, was highly symbolic of this new breed of warrior, led by a true visionary, Lieutenant General William P. Yarborough.

Snaquebite · 10-12-2011, 17:56

Yarborough.jpg

Rennaker · 10-12-2011, 21:52

Also my date of birth. It was meant to be...

Richard · 10-12-2011, 22:16

I don't know about 'first public' wearing...might be a better way to describe it as first appearance before a POTUS as I think it was being worn 'publicly' but 'unofficially' long before 1961...

Attchd pics:

COL Edson Raff, 77th SFGA CDR 1953-1954
77TH SFGA EM 1955
10TH SFGA Officer 1955

LTG Yarborough, in a 12 May 1971 letter to then JFKCENMA CDR BG Emerson, credited COL Raff as being the proponent for pushing the wearing the green beret based on his experiences with allied airborne forces and commandos during WW2.

http://www.groups.sfahq.com/sf_heral...bg_emerson.htm

Richard

greenberetTFS · 10-13-2011, 01:07

In 1956 when I went to the 77th (FB !!) we were unable to wear it on post and an automatic DR if you got caught wearing it in public anywhere....

Don't know how true this story is but we were told the POTUS(Ike) considered it foreign headgear and was completely opposed to it.....

In Germany when I got there in 1959 with the 10th,we wore it everywhere.........

Big Teddy

exsquid · 10-19-2011, 20:18

Personally, I love the ascot.

x/S