How do you verify if someone is a green beret?

Answer 1

SF men wore their Green Beret in the field, from 1961 thru 1971. They had that option, and, of course, being "special" (and new in country), they, for the most part, probably all wore their "green beenie" (as some GIs used to refer to them) for a short while...later switching to standard uniforms of the day; as the novelty wore off (newness wore off).

If the SF men weren't wearing their distinctive headgear, then you would simply have to guess that they were SF men by their camoflage uniforms, maybe a CAR-15 with a silencer on it, and maybe some South Vietnamese personnel being with them. Rangers, LRRPS, ARPS, and standard US grunt patrols didn't normally operate with South Vietnamese personnel. And no US Army personnel wore camoflage fatiques other than: SF, SEALS, Rangers, ARPs, LRRPs, and sometimes US snipers. Camo fatiques were hard to get, the supply folks and rear echelon men (REMF-Rear Echelon @#@#) managed to keep all the good stuff.

So, you narrowed it down to: Camoflage fatiqued men, armed with CAR-15s with silencers, with South Vietnamese or Montagnards...had to be SF men (Montagnards is French for mountain people). Remove the Montagnards, South Viets; and the men could be Rangers, ARPs or LRRPs. But these last 3 outfits operated in 5 men or more in the field, SF might be 1 or 2 men; This would be the final way of identification.

US Snipers would be in 5 or 2 man teams. Or a solo operater (discouraged by high command)...but it was done. When solo, he simply disappeared; because he was a target to everyone.

Answer 2

If you have enough knowledge of the US Army and Special Forces to quiz them, you can try that. Otherwise, you can send a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Veterans Affairs for a copy of their military records (a lot of which is public information), though this could take several months.

Answer 3

jerry guzzetta