09/26/2026
Today marks the 65th anniversary of the green beret!
Although it had been used for years prior, September 25th, 1961 marked the official Army designation of the green beret as the exclusive headgear of Army Special Forces.
This beret in our collection was owned by James Megellas, a retired U.S. Army officer from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin who served as a paratrooper with Co. H, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division in Europe during World War II. After he retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel in 1961, Megellas began a political career that led to his appointment as Mission Director for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that included stints in Yemen (1962-1964), Panama (1964-1968), Vietnam (1968-1970) and Colombia (1975-1979).
Between the latter two, Megellas served as USAID Advisor to the Commanding General, John F. Kennedy Center for Military Assistance and to the Commandant, United States Army Institute for Military Assistance at Fort Bragg, North Carolina from September 1972 to November 1975. The 5th SFG (A) returned to Fort Bragg in March 1971. This version of their beret flash with diagonal yellow bar and three red stripes was first worn in 1963 by those serving in Vietnam prior to being adopted by the entire group in 1970. Megellas may have received this beret during his three years at Fort Bragg, although given the theater made appearance of the flash may have gotten it while still in Vietnam between 1968 and 1970. Later, the 5th SFG (A) reverted to their original plain black and white flash in 1985 until readopting this design in 2016.
