LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/state/20010630/t000054117.html

Saturday, June 30, 2001

'Ultimate Hero' Is Honored for Illustrious Military Legacy
Soldiers: Aaron Bank, 98, founded the Green Berets in 1951 and served as
their first commander. His adversaries in a long career included Hitler
and Ho Chi Minh.

By MATTHEW EBNET, Times Staff Writer

   Nearly three dozen people gathered Friday at the Mission Viejo Library
to honor 98-year-old Aaron Bank, the founder of the Army's Green Berets.
    Organized by the Orange County Los Ninos chapter of the Children of
the American Revolution, the event was held close to the Fourth of July by
design, organizers said. But it also was held to honor the "ultimate
hero," said Owen Chappel, president of the chapter.
    Bank and his wife, Catherine, sat quietly as they watched youngsters
and veterans describe his contribution to the American military and his
legacy of heroism.
    Larry Hughes, 53, of La Habra, founder of the group called the
Brothers of Vietnam, said Bank's influence on the military touched him
personally even though they never served together.
    "I was in Vietnam for two years. If not for [Bank's legacy of]
training, I would not be alive today. I'm alive because of him," Hughes
said.
    Bank's legacy is rich, Hughes said. When the Army wanted to capture
Adolf Hitler in World War II, Bank organized the mission. It was aborted,
though, when intelligence reports indicated Hitler had killed himself.
    Before the Allied invasion of Europe, Bank had fought with the
Resistance in France. Later in his career, he ran missions into Indochina,
meeting with Ho Chi Minh; the Vietnam War bore out his prediction that the
United States would someday go to war against the North Vietnamese leader.

    In 1951, the Army formed the elite Green Berets unit. Bank was in
charge of organizing it and was its first commander.
    At Friday's ceremony, members of the Children of the American
Revolution chapter gave Bank a plaque with the words "An American
Treasure," along with a berry pie, the only gift Bank said he wanted.
    "I didn't expect this [plaque] and now I have to find a place to hang
it," Bank said.
    He noted its message, and said with a laugh: "I'm just a human being,
but I'll accept it."
    The plaque will be added to his hundreds of medals and awards.
    "He has so many, we have a lot of them in storage," said Bank's
daughter, Linda Ballantine, 50, of Dana Point.

Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times