By Chris “Moon” Mullins.
In the modern Special Forces community, the beard is a mark of the seasoned operator—a sign that you are working in the “gray zone” where standard regulations give way to mission necessity. But decades before the “operator beard” became a symbol of 21st-century Special Forces, there was one man who pioneered the look in the most high-stakes environment imaginable, standing in the open door of a C-47 transport plane.
John “Jack” Thompson, the Chicago Tribune’s ace correspondent, wasn’t just a witness to the birth of the American Airborne. He was a participant who embodied the unconventional spirit. Known across the Mediterranean Theater simply as “The Beard,” Thompson’s journey from a news desk to the combat drops of North Africa and Sicily is a masterclass in immersive reporting and a vital chapter in the legend of the American Paratrooper.
The Legend of the “Combat Beard”
Thompson’s beard was more than a rejection of cold-water shaving; it was a psychological identifier. In the door of a C-47, surrounded by young, clean-shaven paratroopers, “The Beard” projected the aura of the “old hand”, the man who had seen the world and wasn’t rattled by the prop blast. It gave him an aura of invincibility that allowed him to move seamlessly between the rank-and-file GIs and high-level commanders like Jim Gavin, Matthew Ridgway and William Yarborough.
For the paratroopers of the 509th and 505th, Thompson’s beard became a visual shorthand for the unconventional spirit. It signaled that he was one of them, a man willing to bypass the “spit and polish” of the rear echelon to face the raw, unvarnished reality of the jump. Even today, the “Full-Growth Man Beard” carries that same weight: it is the look of a professional who is focused solely on the “X”, the point of impact where the mission is won or lost.
Training Under the Architect. The North Africa Integration
While Thompson was not aboard the initial 1,600-mile flight from England, his integration into the airborne story was no less deliberate. He arrived in North Africa just as the 509th was preparing for its second combat mission—the high-stakes jump into Youks les Bains. It was here that Thompson’s journey into the sky was guided by the man who defined the branch.
Before the sticks hooked up for that second jump, Thompson received specialized instruction from a young Major named William P. Yarborough. Yarborough, the man who would eventually be known as the “Father of the Green Berets”, recognized the value of an operator who could document the reality of this new form of warfare. By personally briefing Thompson on jump techniques and the tactical situation on the ground in Algeria, Yarborough was ensuring that the world’s first “parachute reporter” wouldn’t just survive the drop, but would understand the meticulous tactical DNA being built in real-time.
Operation Torch. The Prove-Out at Youks les Bains
On November 15, 1942, Thompson earned his place in history. Jumping as a civilian correspondent alongside LTC Ed Raff and the 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), he exited the aircraft over the aerodrome at Youks les Bains, Algeria.
Thompson’s reflection on the jump was a masterpiece of wartime honesty,
“My own thoughts were not remarkable. I was unperturbed—doubtless thru ignorance—until just the moment before the jump, when the thought came to me that there must be some easier way to earn a living. Then it came.”
The mission was a success; the paratroopers secured the airfield within twenty minutes. The landing was “soft,” encountering friendly French forces instead of German Panzers. Thompson’s dispatch, printed in the Chicago Tribune on November 19, unequivocally stated his status:
“As a war correspondent, I jumped with the troops, being the first reporter to jump with American paratroops, either in practice or in battle.”
The Weight of the Word. A 15-Pound Weapon
Unlike the men of the stick, Thompson’s primary “weapon” was a 15-pound portable typewriter. Strapped to his person, this heavy piece of machinery had to survive the 120-mph prop blast and the jarring impact of a combat landing.
Thompson’s kit was a hybrid of elite military gear and civilian tools:
- The M1942 Jump Suit: The iconic reinforced uniform of the early airborne, designed for men who operated behind enemy lines.
- The Portable: A second-hand machine that served as his lifeline to the readers back home, proving that the pen, when dropped from 800 feet, is as mighty as the sword.
Sicily and the Shambles. A Night with “Slim Jim” Gavin
If North Africa was a “soft landing,” Operation Husky in July 1943 was a descent into the crucible. Thompson spent ten days embedded with the 505th PIR under the command of Colonel James M. “Slim Jim” Gavin. At 35, Thompson was older than Gavin, but the two men shared a mutual respect for the high-stakes, “no-fail” nature of the mission.
The Sicily jump was a “shambles.” Gale-force winds scattered the paratroopers 30 to 50 miles from their objectives. Thompson, the last man out of his aircraft, recounted the violence of the descent:
“Just 30 feet above ground the wind swung me out horizontal and on a back swing I smashed into a tree and onto the ground… I thought I had cracked a rib.”
Miraculously, his typewriter survived. Thompson found himself in a group of just 25 men, trekking through the Sicilian brush as the roar of German Tiger tanks grew louder nearby. His 2,000-word “opus” on the Sicily jump provided the American public with its first unvarnished look at the grit and cost of airborne warfare.
“Jump No More”. The $500 Ultimatum
The Sicily jump marked the definitive end of Thompson’s career as a parachutist. The Chicago Tribune management, recognizing that they were pushing their luck with their star correspondent, awarded him a $500 bonus but issued a direct command on July 19, 1943:
“Great work Sicily jump no more.”
Thompson had already done enough. He had cemented the legend of the “Devils in Baggy Pants” and the aura of the unconventional reporter in the American consciousness. He continued to cover the war, landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day and eventually witnessing the historic link-up at the Elbe, but the “Beard in the Door” remained his most enduring legacy.
Was the Aura of the Beard Adopted by Special Forces?
You tell me.
In the decades that followed, as the Special Forces Groups were activated at Fort Bragg under the guidance of men like William Yarborough, a distinct culture began to emerge. It was a culture that valued maturity over “spit and polish,” and mission-readiness over garrison regulations.
When Special Forces A-Teams began operating in the mountains of Vietnam, and later in the rugged terrain of Afghanistan and Iraq, the “Combat Beard” returned. It wasn’t just a sign of being downrange; it was a psychological tool, a way to build rapport with local leaders and a way to signal to conventional forces that they were operating under a different set of rules.
The modern operator with a full-growth beard is a direct descendant of the spirit Jack Thompson brought to the door of that C-47 in 1942. It is the look of a man who has earned his autonomy through extreme risk. When you see a Green Beret today operating “outside the wire” with a beard, you aren’t just looking at a grooming choice; you are looking at a lineage of unconventional warfare that traces its roots back to the man with the 15-pound typewriter and the “aura of invincibility.”
From the Research Files: The Jack Thompson Archive
The following primary source dispatches are available through the Chicago Tribune Digital Archive or Newspapers.com. These records provided the backbone for the research in my upcoming biography:
- “First Story of How Paratroops Fight in Africa” (Nov 28, 1942)
- “With U.S. Paratroops Bound for Sicily” (July 9, 1943)
- “Tribune Writer Tells of Leap from Plane” (July 16, 1943)
- “Sicily Jump No More” (July 19, 1943)
While Thompson was the man documenting the jumps, the man who forged the elite world he jumped into was William P. Yarborough. In my upcoming book, I explore the deep history of these early operations, including the stories of the men, both in and out of uniform, who forged the elite world we know today.
“Father of the Green Berets: General William Yarborough: The Man Who Forged the Green Berets and America’s Paratroopers” Coming July 2026 from Frontline Books.
**********
About the Author: Christopher Eric “Moon” Mullins is a military historian and prolific author specializing in the history of American elite forces. His upcoming biography, Father of the Green Berets: General William Yarborough, is the result of years of exhaustive research into the life of the man who revolutionized unconventional warfare.
Moons’ work is defined by a commitment to uncovering the “lost” narratives of military history, from the technical evolution of paratrooper equipment to the lived experiences of the men who stood in the door. He is the author of nine published works currently available on Amazon, which further explore the grit and strategy of historical combat. By bridging the gap between official military records and personal frontline accounts, Moon provides a definitive look at the architect of the Green Berets.
Image: Jack Thompson (left) talking with Col. James Gavin at Biazza Ridge, Sicily on July 11, 1943. United States Army in World War II Mediterranean Theater of Operations: Sicily and the Surrender of Italy” Garland
A., etal., 1993, page 169, U.S. Army Center of Military History.
https://history.army.mil/portals/143/Images/Publications/catalog/6-2.pdf