A Beret. Just to Keep my Head Warm. I Never Served.

What do you put on your head when it’s cold?

As I entered the public library on Tuesday, one Black man near the entrance asked what my hat was called. “A beret,” I said. The next one to speak reverently declared “thank you for your service”. Below my beret I wore a Navy pea coat, an old one, and old blue jeans.

Most strangers just speak about the beret to compliment me on how handsome the maroon beret is on me.

Two weeks ago, a cameraman for ABC saw my beret and asked me where I served. I told him that the blue and black pin, the distinct unit insignia, was from a unit that worked and ended in World War One. I didn’t need to offer any of that unit’s exciting backstory.

People mistaking me for being military happens seldom. Depending on what the stranger says, I’ll flat-out tell him or her that I’m not a veteran. I’m just keeping my head warm.

One reality of Americans is that less than one percent have served in the armed forces. They seldom know what service members wear on-duty or for that matter off-duty. What’s more, despite the digital and in-person access to education, which is available to most Americans, most show that they are content with the level of ignorance or knowledge that they have.

I have an idea of how service members dress in-uniform. I wear the beret, when it’s cold enough, not to seem military. I do it in order to distinguish myself from the men who wear baseball caps. They abound. I don’t know why. I just don’t want to blend with the ball cap-wearers.

In terms of uniforms, I remember a brief scene from my first years as a student at the Univ. of Minnesota. I was visiting ROTC offices, faintly curious about joining. I remember that an Army captain said that if he didn’t have to, that is if the regulations didn’t require it on a given day, then he’d prefer to dress as a civilian.

I’ve never served in the military. I know enough about stolen valor. “Stolen valor” is where civilians choose to wear military clothing, it seems especially ribbons, in order to gain attention. I have already thought too much about the consequences of forming my beret in a military style with a large unit pin on it. I’ve read or heard enough about that military that I know that that kind of beret will have a cloth patch showing the unit insignia, then atop of that a rank pin. I wear no rank pin.