Curtis “Colt” Terry, (February 8, 1929 – September 15, 2005) was one of the original

Green Berets The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal m ...

– one of the original instructors of

Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mis ...

. He died on September 15, 2005, from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

. After forging his birth certificate to enlist at 16 in 1945, Terry served two tours in combat in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, one behind enemy lines, and three tours in combat in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 26, 1945, as a private. He retired in August 1970 as a Lieutenant colonel and during his time in service he spent more than 23 years as a Green Beret instructor.

References

United States Army officers 1929 births 2005 deaths United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Deaths from pancreatic cancer People from Kissimmee, Florida {{US-army-bio-stub