Light Horse and their “Silver Belly” Stetsons

One of the best things about getting to write for the paper is the wonderful readers that sometimes contact me with their own stories and experiences related to the articles I write. I would like to share the great story and picture I received from Vietnam veterans, George Bloodworth and Don Calison. If you got to read the Stetson hat article, it mentioned the fact that Stetson produced hats for the military of several countries including the USA.

I often don’t get to share as much information as I would like due to limited space, so I was very excited to receive an email from some of our own who had a great story to tell. This is the email that I received from Mr. Bloodworth: ”Enjoyed your article on Stetson hats. I am a retired Army helicopter pilot, flew with D Troop, 3/5 Air Cavalry In Vietnam. We wore the Stetson hats, (the original silver belly), yellow scarf, Spurs and saber. One of the most decorated units, some of our pilots still reside in Georgia. We wear our hats and scarves at our annual reunion. Would love to introduce you to the guys.”

Perhaps I should have saved this story for Veteran’s Day, but I just couldn’t wait! Here is the little story Don had put on a business card to explain their unit’s use of the military Stetsons. Thank you, gentlemen of D Troop, 3rd Squadron, 5th U.S. Cavalry, both living and past, for your service and for sharing your story:

Light Horse and their “Silver Belly” Stetsons

D Troop, 3rd Squadron, 5th U.S. Cavalry and subsequently C Troop, 3rd of the 17th Air Cavalry is a direct descendant of pre-Civil War “Jeff Davis’ Own” 2nd Cavalry. When the 2nd Cav was sent to Texas to confront the Kiowa and Comanche Indians, it was commanded by Colonel Robert E. Lee. Colonel Lee’s father was the controversial Revolutionary War hero, Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee.

 Fast forward to Vietnam, sometime in 1968. As the troop became much more cavalry mission oriented, the commanding officer changed the unit’s name to “Light Horse.” A few popular and enterprising young officers began wearing yellow scarves, and the men of the troop soon followed. Maintaining the image of the “Bastard Cav” those same officers introduced a tan colored, cowboy style hat that soon became the “Silver Belly” colored Stetson Cavalry hat that was eventually adopted as the unit’s standard. They chose the tan colored hat with the belief that Light Horse Harry’s son, Robert E. Lee, often wore a hat of the same color. It was known that the tan colored hat was the “fatigue” or working cavalryman’s headgear. A legendary comment in the troop is, “The Cav wore their tan hats when there was workin’ or fightin’ to be done. They wore their black hats when they went dancin’.”

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