Bunker Talk blog with 30,000 photos of my toy soldier collection of Roco Minitanks, Heiser Models, Fidelis Models, Airfix and Pegasus figures; and 54mm & 60mm plastic soldiers from Tim Mee, Elastowit, BMC, MPC. Be sure to follow Bunker Talk. Email at BunkerMeister45@aol.com. Get merch at: https://www.redbubble.com/people/bunkertalkwar/shop
Sunday, December 10, 2023
Mars Green Berets
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4 comments:
Not claiming to be an expert, but in my time in I had the opportunity to work and cooperate with Army Special Forces and later SOCOM (after it was formed). My understanding from what I saw and talking with Vietnam vets (who "raised" me) was that headgear in the bush was pretty much left up to the individual on both SF, LRRPs, and other special units. A beret or two would help identify the set as being "Green Beanies" but in an actual patrol setting would probably be out of place unless being used to "represent" to local populace that it was US Army Green Beret medics giving out the vaccinations to the children, etc.
I know the rule at Ft. Bragg when I was there was "no berets West of Gruber Road" (in other words in the field training area).
An SF guy might even have traded for a Marine's cover - after all, it IS a very practical piece of headgear. I know whenever we found ourselves working with our Marine brothers they were always wanting to trade for our berets. We often couldn't because we usually brought only one beret with us on offpost excursions, tucked in our trousers' pocket (No berets in the field) just in case we might find ourselves in a civilized area.
Even the helmet might not be off-base - though it goes against the image of the "snake eating" SF guy running through the jungle with a boonie hat and a knife in his teeth, they were issued to the SF guys and worn at least on jumps. I've done some straphanging (jumping as a guest) with the SF. Helmets may be heavy but come in handy when the kimshi's hitting the fan.
Even knowing this I might keep one guy in a cover on my A-Team for color and put the other guy with my Marines, and put the guy in the helmet with the leg grunts. At the same time, my best friend did three and a half years with Marine Recon in Nam - I might form my own team.
Of course, this is all anecdotal.
Again, your site is one of my pleasant moments of the day. Thanks for sharing it with us. Have a great day!
BTW: I am really glad you ran this series on the Mars Vietnam sets. Mine have been tucked away for some years due to overcrowding in my storage area. My wife gave me a new "Man Cave/War Room" for Christmas (yes, she's a keeper) so I'm moving my collection into the new area and digging stuff out I haven't seen in years - it's like Christmas - early.
Your pictures and comments have given me a new appreciation for these sets and the urge to drag them out as soon as I get the new room organized. Thanks again.
While in the Army Reserve between Vietnam and Desert Storm, I knew may Vietnam Vets, some were SF. Certainly even my limited stateside experience validates everything you say. In the Reserves combat veterans wore many items of equipment that were long outside the end use date but no one was going to tell them not to wear those shirts, or boots, or whatever.
And in the field on training we looked even more un-uniform!
Thanks for sharing your stories, very cool stuff.
Bunkermeister
When I moved I found a lot of stuff I had forgotten I had, or that I knew I had but did not remember building that kit, or painting those figures! It's lots of fun digging it all out.
When looking at military history I certainly know better than to say, they never did that, because almost always someone did it!
Thanks for the comments WW.
Bunkermeister
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