亚伦·班克（Aaron Bank）在第二次世界大战中是一名奥斯·杰德堡（OSS Jedburgh）特工，也是威廉·多诺文（William Donovon）引用的一句话的主题：“告诉班克去抓希特勒。”他后来成为了第十特种部队集团的首任指挥官，赢得了“绿色贝雷帽之父”的称号。二战中非常规战争的发展和使用产生了为未来战争发展永久部队的愿望。
班克和另外三名士兵在法国敌后空降，与法国抵抗军合作，骚扰从诺曼底撤退的德国人。随后，他招募了有反纳粹同情心的前国防军士兵，在阿尔卑斯山堡绑架希特勒和其他高级军官。虽然这项任务被取消了，但他在印度支那的战俘任务中获得了更多的经验，甚至与Ho Chi Minh共度时光。
这些第二次世界大战的经历，以及随后在韩国服役的经历，塑造了世行的观点，即有必要在美国陆军中建立一支OSS型部队。在罗伯特·麦克卢尔准将的领导下，班克与菲律宾游击战老兵罗素·沃尔克曼和温德尔·费尔蒂格一起，在组建美国陆军特种部队方面发挥了不可或缺的作用。
Aaron Bank and the Early Days of US Army Special Forces (Audiobook)
Aaron Bank was an OSS Jedburgh in World War II and the subject of William Donovon’s quote, “Tell Bank to get Hitler.” He’d later become the inaugural commander of the 10th Special Forces Group, earning the moniker Father of the Green Berets. The development and use of unconventional warfare in WWII created a desire to develop permanent units for future wars.
Bank parachuted with three others behind enemy lines in France to work with the French Resistance in harassing the Germans retreat from Normandy. He followed that action by recruiting former Wehrmacht soldiers with anti-Nazi sympathies to kidnap Hitler and other high-ranking officers in the Alpine redoubt. Although that mission was called off, he gained more experience with a POW rescue mission in Indochina, even spending time with Ho Chi Minh.
These World War II experiences, followed by service in Korea, shaped Bank’s view of the need to make an OSS-type force permanent in the United States Army. Under the leadership of Brigadier General Robert McClure, Bank joined Russell Volckmann and Wendell Fertig – veterans of guerrilla warfare in the Philippines – to play an integral role in the creation of the US Army Special Forces.
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