During World War II, Aaron Bank led a number of daring missions. But what he was best known for was his role as “the father of the Green Berets,” the special operations branch of the United States Army.
He helped create the most elite and effective fighting force in the world, fulfilling his goal for the U.S. to be able to perform covert missions whenever necessary.
Aaron Bank was born on November 23, 1902, in New York City to Russian Jewish immigrants. His father died when he was a child, leaving his mother to raise him alone. She taught French, German, and piano to make ends meet.
Bank grew up working as a lifeguard. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 39. He was considered too old for combat at the time, so he worked as a tactical training officer in Camp Polk, Louisiana. One day, he learned that volunteers were being requested for “special assignments.”
They needed to be physically fit and know multiple languages. Bank fit the bill, so he was able to obtain a position with the Special Operations Branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which was the precursor to the CIA. He immediately became an important figure in the agency.
Bank led a team to parachute into France’s Lozère department. They met up with the French Resistance and coordinated with Belgian, British, and Dutch personnel to fight back against German forces.
Once that was established, Bank participated in Operation Anvil, which was later renamed Operation Dragoon.
It is better known as the Allied invasion of southern France. His team pushed German forces out, freeing multiple towns.
His work peaked with Operation Iron Cross, a plan for the OSS and Bank to use German Jews and defectors to parachute into the German-Austrian border and capture or kill Adolf Hitler if he fled Berlin. However, Hitler hunkered down in a bunker and never left the city, leading to the operation’s cancellation.
realstock1 – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
After Germany surrendered, Bank was sent to southeast Asia, where he met and worked with Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Vietnamese resistance against the Japanese occupation.
Bank recommended that Ho Chi Minh be the future head of a coalition government, but American policy did not agree with such an idea.
Then, Bank went to serve in Korea. Following his service in Korea, he was appointed chief of the Special Operations Branch of the Psychological Warfare Staff. He argued that the U.S. military needed a group that could conduct unconventional warfare.
In 1952, the concept was approved, and Bank became commander of the new 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
He recruited troops with a range of special operations backgrounds. This elite unit within the Army had to be skilled in stealth tactics, foreign languages, sabotage, and various forms of warfare.
Later, Bank suggested that Special Forces soldiers should wear berets as a mark of distinction. He listed purple, wine-red, and green as possible colors for the berets.
Initially, the idea was rejected. It wasn’t until 1962, four years after Bank retired from the military that President John F. Kennedy allowed Army Special Forces to wear their famous green berets.
On April 1, 2004, Bank passed away at an assisted-living facility at the age of 101. The main academic building at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center was named in his honor.
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