"WEAR THE BERET PROUDLY,
IT WILL BE A MARK OF DISTINCTION AND A BADGE OF COURAGE IN THE DIFFICULT
DAYS AHEAD"
President JOHN F. KENNEDY
5th Special Forces Group Airborne beret (note Vietnamese made 5th flash)
(my collection)
The Wool Beret, Rifle Green Army shade 297 was
the SF's most famous uniform feature and gave rise to the unit
nickname the "Green Beret".
This was unofficially worn as early as 1952 and
was only approved as the USSF official head gear after the personal
intervention of President John F. Kennedy in 1961. A
"Flash" system was also adopted at the same time to identify the
various SF Groups, Officers wore their ranks insignia pinned on it and
enlisted personnel their Distinctive Insignia Crest.
The Green Beret hat was quite
ill-suited to the Vietnam climate.
Special forces soldiers in the field often swapped it for the bush hat, a
much more user-friendly hat. However it was never too far away,
often tucked in a fatigues pocket, ready to be placed on the head of its
proud owner in case the press or brass were around!
Standard issue green beret, dated 1968, with
5th US made flash and SF crest This beret is from SGT Harlow Short Medic (A-5O2/CIDG
hospital at Bien Hoa 1969/70) (The beret is in a used condition and as brought back from
Vietnam in 1970, click on the beret photos to see details )
Another beret from Sgt Harlow Short,
this was was worn while training in 1967
with the 6th prior to going to Vietnam.
They both stayed over 30
years in his foot locker and unfortunately
this one was damaged buy a decomposing stethoscope
tube, see mark on the right hand side top of beret. Since the beret has been washed and most of the mark as disapeared
Also enclosed a
photo of some of his insignias, the tab and
the wing are still sewn to poplin jungle
materiel. The unused dark subdued SSI on the
right is either an early
US cut edge subdued or a high quality
Vietnamese made one (difficult to
tell), the one on the left is the subdued
merrow
edge which started filtering through Vietnam
in the early 70's, (this is easy
recognisable by its tail and its olive color)
Above items are in my collection and
kindly obtained from Sgt Harlow Short
One of the most
precious items in the field was the bush hat often referred to as boonie
hat. It was so precious that often a spare one was tucked into a
soldier's rucksack as this was his protection from the sun and the rain.
Many variations
existed which were often individualized and tailor- made to the specific
requirements of the individual. The Cowboy hat was frequently seen and most used in the early years of the
war.
The bush hats often had the brim shortened, so as not to impair
vision. Sometimes the edge was cut and left to fray to give a more
camouflaged edge. At times the brim of the hat was so shortened that
it resembled a skull hat.
shorten and cut brim
(my collection)
Skull hat
(my collection)
"duck hunter" Cowboy style
(my collection)
CIDG pattern cap,
seen in the photo below
(my collection)
Members of Gia Vuc A-113 team boarding a truck, 1965,
Tiger Stripe hats and uniforms are worn by the US advisers.
SSG D.Klehn on patrol wearing patrol cap, "tiger
stripe" uniform
and armed with an M1/M2 carbine 1965
Good prices paid for any bring backs relating to Gia Vuc
and its A-teams,
if you don't mind party away with some of your stuff, send me a
line.
Steve Sherman the
archivist for
the Special Forces and Special Operations Associations
Need your help!
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