“One-hundred men they’ll test today, only three win the Green Beret.”
– Barry Sadler, The Ballad of the Green Berets

In 2014, Nashville journalist Willy Stern found himself on a remote Special Operations base in rural Afghanistan. With camera and notebook in hand, Willy donned a combat helmet, tactical vest, and ballistic plates. A uniform starkly different from his normal day-to-day civilian attire.

It was on this secretive military outpost that he first met 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), an elite U.S. Army Green Beret unit based just an hour from Nashville at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. These are experts trained not only in all manner of unconventional warfare but also in diplomacy. Many members develop and use foreign language capability as part of their mission.. Think James Bond. Just without the accent.

Embedded within the unit, Willy followed the soldiers as they carried out their missions, documenting what he could that was appropriate for public release.

“They go deep behind enemy lines,” said Cheryl Carter, Executive Director of The Legion Fund. “They often spend extended periods working alongside partner forces and local communities. Their strength is their ability to read people and build alliances. It’s not just the ability to go in hard and fast on kill-or-capture missions.”

Willy returned home changed. Captivated. Having witnessed just a fragment of what 5th Special Forces Group can do he set out to create The Legion Fund, a dedicated source of support for 5th Group Soldiers and their families.

Silent Support

The Legion Fund exists to move quickly, quietly, and precisely.

In her interview, Cheryl described one case where a soldier’s house burned to the ground. His wife was also a soldier. They needed help and quickly.

“This is what The Legion Fund does best,”  said Cheryl. “Within hours, they had a place to stay. They had some food. They had basic toiletries and clothing. For immediate needs, I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of it being longer than 24 hours for our assistance to arrive.”

That immediacy mattered. Like the unit it supports, The Legion Fund was built to operate quickly and efficiently, and it was built specifically for this unit.

“There are so many stories,”  Cheryl continued. “We have at least once or twice a year, a house burns down, and the family is left with absolutely nothing. We come in with gift cards and resources so the soldier can immediately go and get groceries, clothing, diapers, and necessities.

We want to be a source that comes in when the need cannot be met any other way.”

The Legion Fund is structured around seven distinct lanes of support.

“We have seven lanes that we serve, with our largest percentage being the immediate needs. And those are the ones that are the random needs that you would never think of until they actually come up,”  Cheryl explained. “We provide a lot of educational scholarships and work very closely with soldiers transitioning from military life to civilian life, because that has been so critical to their futures.”

Many people assume that when they give, they are supporting a future catastrophe. And they might. The so-called “Helicopter Goes Down Fund.” And while history shows that as a highly deployed unit, 5th Group may experience a calamitous event every eight to ten years, the day-to-day reality is more complex.

Scholarships and medical support – including PTSD treatments – are frequent needs. Support for Gold Star families (families of fallen heroes) remains a need long after the initial wave of public attention fades, something often overlooked by other organizations. The Legion Fund’s assistance bridges the gap between government systems and reality in the most direct way possible.

5th Group has maintained a high operational tempo across decades of conflict. As pressure accumulates, the unit’s needs evolve and grow – the Legion Fund is there to grow with it.

Under the Radar

In civilian life, most of us do not think twice about posting a photo online or being publicly recognized. For these soldiers, social media can become a battleground.

“This unit in particular operates under the radar,”  said Cheryl. “Because of operational security, the community maintains a very limited public profile.”

The culture runs even deeper.

“These guys are so private,”  Cheryl continued. “They don’t ask for help. They’re taught not to. There’s a problem? Go fix it. That’s what they’re taught.”

That silence can make it difficult to access support.

While deployed, a distressed call from home can prove distracting. And distraction, in high-risk operational environments, can prove deadly. The last thing a soldier needs to worry about is how a spouse will manage childcare during a medical emergency.

The Legion Fund steps in so they do not have to carry that weight alone, letting soldiers focus on their mission and task at hand.

Strength at Home

One growing need within the 5th Group community is supporting families.

Time together. Space to reconnect. What may seem, superficially, like a fun summer camp for kids is actually providing a reset for families who often live in cycles of deployment and reintegration.

“It [the camp] is so much more than just fun for the youth; it also provides one-on-one time for the soldier and their spouse. This is epic for these soldiers who spend the majority of the year deployed and separated from their partner,”  said Cheryl.

Because of the highly secure nature of 5th Group, donors may never see the specific lives they impact. The soldier remains anonymous, and the need remains private. It is part of protecting those who protect us. After all, the Green Beret motto is, “The Quiet Professionals.”

Still, donors may designate their gifts to specific lanes, such as scholarships or childcare, if they feel led to support a particular area.

A Call to Action

It can be easy to fall victim to the bystander effect and assume someone else will step in to carry the responsibility to help others. But in Middle Tennessee, we know this is not the case. We are a community of helpers, of neighbors, and of volunteers.

One thing is certain: the soldiers of the 5th Special Forces Group and their families will not stand idle. They remain willing to sacrifice everything and to answer the nation’s call, no matter the risk.

De Oppresso Liber.