Edson Raff, 95; Gave Army’s Green Berets Their Distinctive Hat

Col. Edson Raff, who bucked higher-ups in the Army to outfit Special Forces units with what would become their trademark green berets, died March 11 in Garnett, Kan. He was 95.

Raff came up with the distinctive beret in 1954 as a way to boost the flagging morale of a Special Forces unit of which he had been given command.

Officers of the 77th Special Forces Group at Ft. Bragg, N.C., adopted the beret and picked a green color similar to that of British Royal Marine commandos.

The beret was quickly adopted, in defiance of Army regulations, by Raff’s unit and other Special Forces outfits. The Pentagon relented after Special Forces soldiers wore them to welcome President John F. Kennedy when he visited the Special Warfare Center. He encouraged Special Forces soldiers, who were beginning to be deployed in Vietnam, to wear the berets.

A native of New York and graduate of West Point, Raff was one of the Army’s most storied World War II paratroop commanders. He took part in the first and last paratrooper assaults in Europe during the war.