Silver Box Presented to Lt. Gen. William Yarborough (Father of the Green Berets)

This is an attractive, highly ornate metal case that measures 6 1/8" x 3 11/16" x 1 3/8".  The exterior has a two-tone filigree motif on the lid with the engraved emblem of the Royal Thai Armed Forces on a circular escutcheon in the center.  The remainder of the silver cladding has developed a pleasing bluish-black tarnish over time.  The interior is lined with nicely burled wood and there is a silver presentation plaque affixed to the inside of the lid that reads: "Presented to / Lieutenant General William P. Yarborough, USA / Deputy Commander-In-Chief, US Army Pacific / With the Compliments / Air Chief Marshal Dawee Chullasapya / Chief of Staff, Supreme Command / Bangkok, Thailand 29th September, 1969."  Lt. Gen. William Pelham Yarborough (1912 – 2005) was a 1936 graduate of West Point and volunteered for the fledgling US Army airborne forces while assigned to the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, GA in 1940.  In 1941, Yarborough was responsible for the design of the famous paratrooper jump boot, paratrooper uniform, as well as the US Army Parachutist Badge (still in use today).  Yarborough served in North Africa and Italy during WW2, with postwar service in Occupied Germany, and the US.  In 1961 Yarborough was appointed the commandant of the US Army Special Warfare Center/School for Special Warfare at Fort Bragg, NC (now the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Liberty, NC).  Yarborough worked hard to build up the capabilities of the Special Forces, and oversaw a dramatic increase in the professional and academic standards of the school.  His most well-known contribution was the introduction of the iconic Green Beret as a distinguishing symbol of the Special Forces.  Following his time at the Special Warfare School, he became the Senior Member, UN Command Military Armistice Commission, Panmunjom, Korea, where he was the chief negotiator with the DPRK and Chinese.  Following that, he was posted to the Pentagon where he eventually became the top Army intelligence officer.  In 1969 he was made Deputy Commander-in-Chief, US Army Pacific, retired from Army service in 1971, and lived an active life before he passed away on December 6, 2005.  Yarborough’s Special Warfare legacy continues, however, as every graduate of the Special Forces Qualification Course is awarded a "Yarborough Knife" named for the general and made by Chris Reeves Knives of Boise, ID.  This is a great piece of Vietnam War era militaria, presented to a very important officer in the history of the Special Forces.