counterinsurgency was still surrounded by the Kennedy mystique, even though the young president had been dead for nearly a year. But the glamorous prince of Camelot had given the new doctrine his imprimatur by sending the first Special Forces detachments to Vietnam, glamorous figures themselves in their green berets and paratrooper boots. The fascination was strongest among the junior officers, who were drawn by the apparent romance of fighting guerrilla bands in far-off places.
