The John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum at Fort Bragg

Eric at the John F. Kennedy

Special Warfare Museum

There are displays in this museum
from US Army Special Forces,
Civil Affairs & Military Information
Support Operations, formerly known
as Psychological Operations.

Colonel Arthur "Bull" Simons is

honored for his work as Deputy

Commander/Chief of Staff of the

US Army Special Warfare Center.

First Special Service Force
was an 1,800 man US - Canadian
commando force trained in
stealth tactics & hand to
hand combat early in
World War II.





The First Special Service Force trained in mountains, river crossings and other types of terrain.  They were sent to Italy and conducted nighttime raids on German outposts.  These trained killers also brought back German prisoners, sometimes in large numbers.

Donovan's Devils: 2671st Special

Reconnaissance Battalion

 dropped small teams behind

 enemy lines by covert air drops

in France, Belgium, Holland &

Burma to set up resistance

networks of locals to gather

intelligence & harass the enemy.

Tools of the trade are shown
here including knives, guns
& bomb making materials.

.

The Model 10 LARU breathing

apparatus was developed

to allow Special Forces to

 sneak behind enemy lines

 by a water route.

I'm starting to remember flashes from James Bond movies of stealthy parachute jumps and snorkeling to an assigned target,

The First Loudspeaker & Leaflet

Company spread messages of 

peace, unification & reconstruction 

during the Korean War.

Special Operations Units

worked with the Vietnamese

to gather intelligence &

fight the Viet Cong during

the Vietnam War.

I remember Martha Raye as a singer & comedienne.  Known as "The Big Mouth," she was the female equivalent of Bob Hope.  

Martha entertained the troops in

Europe as a member of The Four

Girls during World War II.

During the Korean War, she worked

with medics & entertained the troops.

Martha visited Vietnam frequently 

to entertain the troops & was

known as "Colonel Maggie."

Martha often went forward to visit Special Forces Camps.  During an attack on the Special Forces Camp at Soc Trang Province, in the Mekng Delta, "Colonel Maggie" cared for wounded soldiers.  She worked at a forward medical station in Quang Ngai during the Tet Offensive. For her work in Vietnam, Martha Raye was awarded two Purple Hearts & a Combat Medical Badge.

 




A piece from the fallen
Berlin Wall.

The wall was a prized spot
for West Berliners'
graffiti.

Civil Affairs Operations is

focused on winning the

"hearts & minds" of locals

 during a military action.

A Civil Affairs soldier provides

water, crayons, coloring books

 & toys to Iraqi children. 

The Iraqi 36th Commando Battalion
is one of the Iraqi Special Operations
Units created in 2003.

The 36th & other commando groups
were trained & advised by
Americans.

 As an avid reader of military history, I appreciated touring the JFK Special Warfare Museum and learning more about covert military missions.  Finding out about Martha Raye's work in combat settings was, for me, the most memorable, little known story in the museum.