Maj. Gen. Charles Echols “Pete” Spragins passes
1AirCav69 sends us the sad news that Army Maj. Gen. Charles Echols “Pete” Spragins, the fellow who brought the black beret to Rangers during the Korean War, has passed at the tender age of 90. He had an impressive lineage;
His great-grandfather, Maj. Gen. Stewart Van Vliet, served on Ulysses S. Grant’s staff as quartermaster of the Union Army during the Civil War. His father, Maj. Gen. R.L. Spragins, served at Guadalcanal and with the “Iron Men of Metz,” ultimately pushing through the Vosges with the 44th during the bitterly cold winter of 1944 to liberate Strasbourg during World War II.
Spragins volunteered for the Korean War and joined the Rangers at Fort Benning, Ga., as commander of the 10th Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne). In commemoration of the grueling training, mostly in the dark of night, he introduced the Rangers’ signature black beret.
The beret was wildly popular with his troops and was worn unofficially through the Vietnam War. It was officially designated as part of the newly created battalions of U.S. Army Rangers in 1975, according to several online sources.
Category: Blue Skies
RIP, Sir!!
RIP Ranger, thank you for your service!
Eternal Rest grant unto him…
Rest in peace, Sir.
“You have done your duty, and have done it well.”
RIP sir.
His was a tradition of service. Now we have a 3rd generation marxist/communist for president and people wonder why we are going to hell.
Thank you for your service, sir. See you in a while …
RIP Sir!!
RLTW!
Rest In Peace Army Maj. Gen. Charles Echols Spragins.
Thank you for all you did and all you gave.
Thanks, and very well done.
Rest In Peace, General, enjoy Heaven, you’ve done your time in hell.
Rest Well, Sir.
RLTW.
This must be who Shinseki wanted to be if/when he grew up. Good on yer, sir! RIP
David, I wonder what the General thought about Shinseki’s brain child?
@14.
It was not Shinseki.
It was an unnamed Specialist (E-4.
Remember?
He was the one busted for ordering the Berets from China!
“It was officially designated as part of the newly created battalions of U.S. Army Rangers in 1975, according to several online sources.”
Nice that they admit they’re reporting comes down to Googling and plagiarizing Wikipedia.
I started Googling this man’s name because I had not heard of him before today. I found very, very little about him, but one of the few items I did find explains my trouble. In a rare interview he did in 2009, he said, “’Why would anyone want to write about me?’” he remarked, offering instead to give the names of a number of more decorated veterans for consideration.”
That same interview ended with this statement from the General: “If I never see this [interview] in print, I’ll be happy.”
We have seen this before, too many times. Men fron whom and about whom we would love to hear point to others as more deserving of our attention.
Rest in peace, Major General Spragins.
Rest in Peace, sir.
From the same 2009 article that 2/17 Air Cav found (I was looking for information on him too):
Now in his 80s, Spragins still works as a financial advisor, helping others weather the current economic crisis.
“It’s been a tough ride,” he remarked. “I hope we come out of this soon.” [End quote.]
You and me both, General.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
despite what some young assholes say, I did NOT serve under Grant in the Civil war.