Ballad of Wine Berets?

The article on Aaron Bank, the founder of the Green Berets, was most interesting (“Special Force Behind U.S. Special Forces,” by Dennis McClellan, Jan. 11). I was especially intrigued by his account of how the name came to be. According to Bank, he suggested either a wine- or green-colored beret to the Pentagon. President Kennedy chose green because he was Irish.

If a wine color had been chosen, would they now be known as Wine Berets? They might have attracted a different sort of soldier--a David Niven, say, rather than a John Wayne.

NEILS JENSEN

Los Angeles