It looks ridiculous but isn't (hats in Vietnam) DPR/TV/1249

Hats in Vietnam are fashion - even high fashion if you take odour into account. There are elegant models with softly drooped brims, models with jauntily cocked brims, new and old, battered and pampered... Every man wears his hat in a manner just slightly different to the next, expressing his own personality. How a soldier moulds and wears his hat in Vietnam is about the only way he can express himself when the most pressing fashion problem he is ever likely to face is which set of his wardrobe of jungle greens will he wear that day. The "in" hat is known officially as "hats utility, jungle green." The Diggers know it variously as the giggle hat, hats ridiculous, or simply, the bush hat. Made of cotton twill and dyed that familiar green, it was introduced in 1954 to replace the slouch hat on operations. Its floppy design is to break up the outline of the head, helping camouflage the wearer, and a secondary purpose is to provide protection from the weather. Army regulations lay down that the hat will be worn at all times outdoors in the war theatre, and that it will not be cut, starched or shaped so as not to defeat its purpose. But the Digger, being a Digger... The floppy hat has many uses besides the obvious. The little pockets around the band can carry pens, tin openers, cigarettes and so on making it as useful as a roof-rack on a car. Soaked in water, it is the perfect built on air cooler. Then again the Digger can pull it off his thatchwork and use it as a sweatcloth to wipe his face. In a pinch it is a reasonable towel. It even has its uses at night. Stuffed with a sweatcloth the little floppy hat is a good pillow, or it can be used to hold the contents of pants pockets so they won't stick in. And even when the Digger returns home to Australia his companion of many miles in the Vietnam jungle is not forgotten - it has just taken on the new role of a fishing hat. A tried and trusty warrior, sporting a 15-year-old model, has the final say. "One of their saving graces," he swears, "is that you look as stupid as the next man. No man can look intelligent in a rag hat..."