7th Special Forces Group Airborne Green Beret
date: label: associated date
content: 1960 - 1974
name: label: user
content: Schmidt, Roland J.
label: graphic artist
content: Chicago Tribune
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description
label: Description
content: Green beret of rifle-green wool, with a black leather sweat band. Lined with yellow cloth and marked: "Bancroft/Military Caps/Framingham Mass." The crown bears the insignia of the 7th Special Forces Group—a red felt shield and a pin of black and silver and black crossed arrows over a sword with the motto "De Oppresso Liber" or "to free the oppressed".
label: Description
content: Specific History
label: Description
content: United States 7th Special Forces Group Green Beret, worn by SP/5C R. J. Schmidt in Vietnam in 1964.
label: Description
content: General History
label: Description
content: The U.S. Army Special Forces are commonly known as the Green Berets, from their distinctive headgear. They are small groups of highly trained officers and non-commissioned officers whose mission is to conduct "behind-the-lines" operations in enemy territory, reconnaissance, target acquisition and damage assessment, and precision strikes on strategic targets. Special Forces units have another unique mission, which is to train and operate insurgency and counterinsurgency units in the field, a mission they performed admirably in Vietnam. They are well-schooled in foreign languages and customs, and are the units of choice when a training mission is done in another nation.
label: Description
content: The 7th Special Forces Group was first formed as the 1st Company, First Battalion, 1st Special Service Force in July 1942 at Camp William Harrison in Montana. Disbanded after World War II, it was reactivated at Fort Bragg in 1953 as the 77th Special Forces Group. In 1960, the 77th Special Forces Group was designated the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), as they are still known today. Under President Kennedy, the 7th served as the cadre and building block for the formation of other special forces units. In 1961 the 7th was sent to Vietnam to advise the South Vietnamese Army and was also involved in Laos and Thailand. The first Medal of Honor earned in Vietnam was awarded to Captain Roger Donlon, a member of the 7th.
place: label: used
content: Vietnam
topic: label: related event
content: Vietnam War
label: related event
content: Postwar United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: See more items in
content: Military
label: See more items in
content: ThinkFinity
label: Exhibition
content: Price of Freedom
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Roland J. Schmidt
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AF.69608M
label: catalog number
content: 69608M
label: accession number
content: 270587
objectType: label: Object Name
content: cap
label: Other Terms
content: cap; Man; Army; Forces, Special
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wool (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/2 in x 10 in x 10 in; 8.89 cm x 25.4 cm x 25.4 cm