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Vietnam SF Photos: Charlton Heston in Tiger Stripe Flight Suit; Edgar Bergen, Martha Ray


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Vietnam SF Photos: Charlton Heston in Tiger Stripe Flight Suit; Edgar Bergen visiting Special Forces outposts

 

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Please educate me here...I thought officers (example: Captain Steward photo above in Class A uniform) were not allowed by regulations to wear marksmanship badges?

 

I am not being facetious or disparaging this brave soldier....was just wondering??

 

thanks

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Well, there he is. Looks like 6th Group flash. Prolly just out of SFOQC.

 

Cool to see Edger Bergan in his traditional outfit.

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Officers are certainly allowed to wear marksmanship qualification badges. Most don't for various reasons that may or may not be true, but regulations don't and never have prohibited it.

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Officers are certainly allowed to wear marksmanship qualification badges. Most don't for various reasons that may or may not be true, but regulations don't and never have prohibited it.

 

Thank you for clearing that up for me.

 

Can't place where I read it...thought it was another thread on here that officer's did not wear them.

 

Will spend some time researching it soon.

 

Thanks again

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Patchcollector

Nice pics!I would like to add some pics of Martha Raye.Martha hung out with the Troops,especially the SF guys,all the time.

 

Some personal info on Martha:

“Colonel Maggie,” Martha Raye, was an honorary member of the Special Forces. She had received her prized Green Beret and the title of Lieutenant Colonel from President Lyndon B. Johnson, himself.
Known as “Colonel Maggie of the Boondocks” by her many military friends, Martha Raye (born Margaret Teresa Yvonne Reed on August 27, 1916) died October 19, 1994. Raye is buried in the military cemetery at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, an exception to policy she requested in 1992.

 

Here is some info about her time in Nam that I found online:

 

Who was “Colonel Maggie”?

Martha Raye. known as “The Big Mouth” was considered the female equivalent to Bob Hope, Martha Raye was an American icon. It was well recognized that Martha Raye endured less comfort and more danger than any other Vietnam entertainer.

 

“Colonel Maggie,” Martha Raye, was an honorary member of the Special Forces. She had received her prized Green Beret and the title of Lieutenant Colonel from President Lyndon B. Johnson, himself.

 

From 1964 to 1973, Martha traveled from camp to camp in isolated areas throughout Vietnam making eight (8) visits. She would stay “in-country” from four to six months at a time–usually at her own expense–to be with the troops she so dearly loved. She used the nurse’s aide skills she learned back in the 1930s, and surgical techniques she picked up during World War II to help treat the wounded. Whatever her official nursing qualifications, her assistance was often needed and very much appreciated. Her presence, whether as entertainer or as a nurse, helped to make life bearable for so many enlisted troops and officers.

 

Martha was wounded twice during her visits with the Green Berets.

 

In May 1965 Martha began the first of her eight USO tours of Vietnam, visiting military camps and outposts. She was accompanied by Earl Colbert, a guitarist, and Ollie Harris, a bass fiddle player. During one of her visits, she was performed with Johnny Grant, Eddie Fisher, and John Bubbles.

 

…to entertain our armed personnel wherever they needed a laugh, a song and a touch of home.

 

In October that year, Martha was back in Vietnam with the USO for another six weeks. Until America ‘s withdrawal in 1974, Martha toured in Vietnam at least annually, sometimes with the USO (1965-1970) but most often on her own and at her own expense.

 

She was reported to have made several jumps from planes and helicopters. She received an Airborne Beret. BUT the Green Beret was what she wore the most.

 

The following is from an Army Aviator who takes a trip down memory lane:
“It was just before Thanksgiving ’67 and we were ferrying dead and wounded from a large GRF west of Pleiku. We had run out of body bags by noon, so the Hook (CH-47 CHINOOK) was pretty rough in the back. All of a sudden, we heard a ‘take-charge’ woman’s voice in the rear. There was the singer and actress, Martha Raye, with a Special Forces beret and jungle fatigues, with subdued markings, helping the wounded into the Chinook, and carrying the dead aboard. ‘Maggie’ had been visiting her SF ‘heroes’ out ‘west’. We took off, short of fuel, and headed to the USAF hospital pad at Pleiku. As we all started unloading our sad pax’s, a USAF Captain said to Martha…. “Ms Raye, with all these dead and wounded to process, there would not be time for your show!”To all of our surprise, she pulled on her right collar and said …… “Captain, see this eagle? I am a full ‘Bird’ in the US Army Reserve, and on this is a ‘Caduceus’ which means I am a Nurse, with a surgical specialty…. now, take me to your wounded!”

 

He said, “Yes ma’am…. follow me.”

 

Several times at the Army Field Hospital in Pleiku, she would ‘cover’ a surgical shift, giving a nurse a well-deserved break.

 

Here is the site where I found the info:

https://cherrieswriter.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/who-was-colonel-maggie/

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