Military hero awarded for his service in the ‘40s

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- In early 1945, Col. Aaron Bank mobilized German

defectors to capture Adolf Hitler. The mission, named “Iron Cross,” was

called off after the dictator committed suicide.

But 55 years later, the 97-year-old “Father of the Green Berets” --

the Army’s Special Forces -- received the Distinguished Service Medal

Award Wednesday during a ceremony at American Legion Post 291 on Balboa

Peninsula.

The award honored Bank for his military service with the Office of

Strategic Services, which took him to China and Korea before he returned

to Germany as commander of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). He

retired in 1958.

“This medal is over 40 years late in being awarded,” said Lt. General

William P. Tangney, commanding general of U.S. Army Special Operations

Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., before he presented Bank with the medal.

Bank’s daughters said they didn’t know about their father’s role in

the military until the publication of his book “From OSS to Green Berets”

in the 1960s.

“I didn’t know what he was until sixth grade,” said Alexandra Elliott,

who attended the ceremony with her sister, Linda Ballantine, and their

mother, Catherine. “More than anything, he was just the greatest dad.”