Today has brought back many memories for those of us old enough to remember when our nation lost a President. For those my age, it was the beginning of the loss of innocence, and had just followed the Cuban Missile Crisis the year before I think, when we could hear the daily tests of the Air Raid / Nuclear Fallout Shelter Siren blasting from the Old Clock Tower on top of the Hill in downtown Rome. I lived in East Rome at the time on Roswell Ave near Cooper Drive... and I can remember that plainly, as can others. A year later, President Kennedy is shot. Years later, I arrived at Fort Bragg, NC and was priviliged to have served with the finest men I have ever known, the Special Forces veterans from the Vietnam War and the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), of Fort Bragg, NC. President Kennedy, JFK, FULLY SUPPORTED and AUTHORIZED the GREEN BERET for the men of the Special Forces. He was a vet himself, from PT 109 fame in WWII, and he was loved and respected by the men in Special Forces. I remembered the President, and I observed and listened to those men that were there on that day at Bragg when he authorized the Green Beret that would soon bring great credit to those that earned it... in Vietnam. Today, I have mixed emotions... mostly sad, but some of great respect, for a great President, and his legacy, and the legacy of those he supported. RIP Mr. President. You served all of us...well. jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Green-Berets.aspx President John F. Kennedy was visionary in his efforts to increase the capability of the Dept of Defense in Counter-Insurgency and Unconventional Warfare. He recognized the unique capabilities and value of US Army Special Forces -“Green Berets”- in the struggle against despotic insurgency, and ensured their predominance in his global initiatives for freedom. ...President KENNEDY... authorized the “Green Beret” as the official headgear for all US Army Special Forces and these Unconventional Warriors were thereafter and ever known as “The Green Berets. ...a dark cloud would descend upon the Special Forces and our entire nation on November 22, 1963. Within hours after the President’s untimely passing, close members of the Kennedy family requested that Green Berets participate in the Honor Guard for his funeral. On the day of the President’s funeral, Command Sergeant Major Francis Ruddy, removed his own Green Beret and placed it solemnly upon the President’s grave. This green beret is now on permanent display in the Museum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and is displayed in memory of President Kennedy and in memory of all Special Forces soldiers, especially those who gave their lives while in service to the country. Today, the U.S Army JOHN F. KENNEDY Special Warfare Center and School, located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, serves as the Army’s Special Operations University. For decades to follow, Green Berets would honor President Kennedy by laying a Green Beret wreath at his grave at Arlington National Cemetery, an honored tradition that continues to this day.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 23:01:02 +0000
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