HOO-AH: 5th SFG Soldiers Honor ‘Green Berets’ Novelist

5th SFG Soldiers Honor
‘Green Berets’ Novelist

By: Sgt. 1st Class Jason B. Baker
U.S. Army Special Operations Command

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (USASOC News Service, Mar. 3, 2008) – Soldiers from 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) honored Robin Lowell Moore, the author of “The Green Berets,” during his funeral service March 1, 2008.

The modest service took place in the historic Grace Episcopal Church, of which Moore was a member. Several hundred attended the funeral, the majority being former and current Green Berets.

The 82-year-old Moore, a novelist, World War II veteran and Special Forces advocate, died February 21 after a long battle with cancer.

Being a Harvard graduate, and partial heir to the Sheraton Hotel chain, gave Moore the ability to travel the world and have a variety of experiences. Of all his experiences in life, it was his time spent working on “The Green Berets” that had the most meaning and impact on his life.

“It meant everything to him,” said his widow Helen Moore of his time spent with the Special Forces. “He felt tremendously honored that he was allowed to go through the course that he was allowed to go to jump school that he was allowed to wear the beret as a civilian. He always used to say meeting general Yarborough, going through the training and writing the book made him a man. Before that he always used to say he was a playboy, a hard working playboy but, it’s the Green Berets that made him a man.”

When starting work on “The Green Berets,” Moore was introduced to Lt. Gen. William Yarborough, who told him if he was to do this book he would have to go through the Special Forces Qualification Course and then to Viet Nam. Moore accepted the challenge and by doing so earned the respect of the SF Soldiers.

“After Robin had been with us about a week, I said we are going out on an operation tomorrow and we will be leaving about 0300,” said retired Maj. Gen. Victor Hugo Jr. the detachment commander featured in the novel. “If you would like to leave with us you can but here are the ground rules: you take with you whatever you want and that is all you got; no one will carry anything for you; you go out and you don’t come back in until all of us come back unless you need a MEDIVAC. Those are the conditions would you like to go? To my surprise he said yes.”

Hugo then lifted a copy of the original of “The Green Berets” and pointed to a picture on the back cover of Robin just after a successful ambush during the operation. He continued stating Moore’s bravery was one the qualities he remembered most about his friend.

The respect and admiration, for this honorary member of the 5th Special Forces Group, is still evident in today’s Green Beret.

“I had an opportunity to spend some time and talk to Robin,” said Maj. Gen. Thomas Csrnko, commander, Special Forces Command. “He was an absolutely amazing man. If you read all of his bio, I would say he lived a full life. It is quite an accomplishment that he has given back so much to the Special Forces community as well as the nation.”

To end the service, full military honors were given ending with the playing of “The Ballad of the Green Beret,” the song he co-wrote with Barry Sadler that is now the theme song for all those who earn the right to don the honored headgear.

Moore will be buried in a cemetery near his home town of Concord, Mass. later this spring.

--De Oppresso Liber--

--sine pari--

"Your Mind is Your Best Weapon"
-- Dedicated to the "Quiet Professionals"

Maj. Gen. Thomas Csrnko, commander, Special Forces Command speaks during a memorial service for Novelist Robin Lowell Moore at the Grace Episcopal Church in Hopkinsville, Ky. March 1, 2008. (photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jason B. Baker, USASOC PAO)

Lt. Gen. William Yarborough and Robin Moore's berets rest on Moore's casket during a memorial service for the Novelist at the Grace Episcopal Church in Hopkinsville, Ky. March 1, 2008. (photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jason B. Baker, USASOC PAO)

HOO-AH: 'The Green Berets' author Moore dies

HOO-AH: 'The Green Berets' author Moore dies

'The Green Berets' author Moore dies
By Henry Cuningham
Military editor, The Fayetteville Observer

Robin Moore, whose novel “The Green Berets” helped shape the public image of Special Forces, died Thursday in Hopkinsville, Ky., after a long illness. He was 82.

The Fort Bragg Special Forces community Friday mourned the passing of the author, who also helped Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler write its anthem, ‘‘The Ballad of the Green Berets.’’ The song is played at Special Forces ceremonies.

Maj. Gen. Gary L. Harrell, deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, said in a statement: “All Special Forces soldiers, past and present, mourn the passing of Robin Moore; he was a valued and trusted member of the special operations family. Robin was a devoted advocate and a true ambassador for the ‘Green Beret’ and all they stand for.”

Visitations will be held Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. and at 10 a.m. March 1 at Lamb Funeral Home in Hopkinsville, Ky. The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. March 1 at Grace Episcopal Church in Hopkinsville.

Memorial donations may be made to Special Forces Association Chapter 38, P.O. Box 223, Fort Campbell, KY 42223.

Mr. Moore also was the author of ‘‘The French Connection,’’ and ‘‘The Happy Hooker.’’


Mr. Moore continued to visit Fayetteville and stayed in touch with the Special Forces community. His 2003 book, ‘‘The Hunt for Bin Laden: Task Force Dagger,’’ takes readers from the initial top secret meeting of the task force in Tampa, Fla., on Sept. 11, 2001, through the war in Afghanistan.

In 1989, Mr. Moore received a Special Forces tab at Fort Bragg for being the only civilian to complete the Special Forces Qualification Course in 1963 for research of his novel, on which a John Wayne movie was later based. The movie, released in 1968, was one of the few pro-military films during the turbulent Vietnam era.

Successful completion of the course entitles soldiers to don the green beret and wear the Special Forces tab, a curved cloth insignia, on their left shoulder, and join a Special Forces group.

Mr. Moore got a standing ovation at the graduation ceremony of the latest Special Forces “Q” course at the auditorium of Fort Bragg’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, which conducts Special Forces training.

“Twenty-six years later!” Mr. Moore said after returning to his seat. “I can’t think of a more glorious way of getting it. It was worth waiting all those years.”

He said he also took airborne training at Fort Benning, Ga., several months before enrolling in the “Q” course.

Mr. Moore said the Special Forces tab was not awarded when he went through the course, and he “never got around to” obtaining one.

It was Mr. Moore’s partnership with the late Lt. Gen. William P. Yarborough that helped form the public perception of Special Forces.

Mr. Moore said Lt. Gen. Yarborough enabled him to go through the course “and kept an eye on me like you wouldn’t believe.” Lt. Gen. Yarborough died in Pinehurst in 2005 at age 93. Lt. Gen. Yarborough helped develop Army parachuting and prompted President John F. Kennedy to approve the green beret as official headgear for Special Forces in 1961.

Asked if officials gave him special consideration for being a civilian, Mr. Moore said, “None at all. I didn’t want them to.”

Mr. Moore died Thursday night at a hospital in southwestern Kentucky, said Dennis Monroe with Lamb Funeral Home.

Mr. Moore has said he moved to the small town in 2005 with his wife, Helen, because it borders Fort Campbell, a sprawling Army post on the Tennessee border that is headquarters to a Green Beret group.

Published books
Born Robert L. Moore Jr. on Oct. 31, 1925, in Massachusetts, he wrote his books under the name Robin Moore. Among his best known were “The Green Berets,” published in 1965 and “The French Connection,” published in 1969. He also helped write “The Happy Hooker,” which was published in 1972.

He co-wrote “The Ballad of the Green Berets,” which became the signature song of the Special Forces unit.

Maj. Gen. Gary L. Harrell, deputy commander of the Army’s Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, called Mr. Moore a “devoted advocate” for the Special Forces and said his writings became textbooks for the Army’s unconventional forces.

“They were both educational and inspirational and introduced the world to the Green Berets,” Maj. Gen. Harrell said in a statement posted Friday on an Army Special Forces Web site. “He will be missed.”

“The Green Berets” was written following Mr. Moore’s service alongside soldiers with the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Vietnam as a civilian author.

“The French Connection,” about a New York drug bust, inspired a movie that won five Academy Awards in 1971, including best picture.

A complete list of Mr. Moore’s survivors wasn’t available.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Military editor Henry Cuningham can be reached at cuninghamh@fayobserver.com or 486-3585.