The Green Berets (book)

"The Green Berets" is a book (ISBN 0-312-98492-8) written by Robin Moore about the Green Berets during the Vietnam War. First published in 1965, it became a best-selling paperback in 1966. The latest edition was published in 2007.

Background

Moore a Harvard classmate of Robert Kennedy, wanted to write about the Special Forces. It was Special Forces founder General William P. Yarborough who insisted that Moore go through the "Q Course" in order to better understand what made Special Forces "special." Moore trained with the soldiers Fort Benning and Fort Bragg for nearly a year, becoming airborne qualified. He then accompanied them deployment to Vietnam in 1963.

Moore's account included several controversial facts about Special Forces missions that were classified at the time, prompting Moore to publish his book as "fiction." Moore's officer in Vietnam Larry Thorne was the book’s first Vietnam hero: “Kornie” in Chapter One, the chapter that served as the basis for the movie ^[1] .

Film adaptation

The book was adapted a 1968 film of the same name starring John Wayne. Production included extensive cooperation from the U.S. Army, who insisted that Moore not be involved with the film.

The movie version is noted for being one of the few films about Vietnam actually produced during the Vietnam War. It is set in South Vietnam but was mostly filmed in and around Fort Benning. It contains a notorious error in the final sequence, when the sun on the horizon is seen setting into, rather than rising out of, the sea. (The sea borders Vietnam on the east.) As Georgia also only has a coastline to its east, this shot was likely completed elsewhere, possibly California.

ee also

* List of bestselling novels in the United States in the 1960s
* United States Army Special Forces in popular culture

Notes

^[1] [http://www.mikecleverley.com/born_a_soldier Born a Soldier by Mike Cleverley]