|
Sir, I was looking at some
of the MIA info of one of "my" team leaders (Jerry "Mad Dog" Shriver) this
afternoon and came across the SOG website. I haven't taken the time to go
through everything yet but trust I will. I was one of those aviators that
supported the SOG operations. I was a 20 yr old aircraft commander with the
119th AHC slick driver. We flew out of FOB II
staging mostly from Dak To. I flew inserts, extracts, string extracts,
deception inserts, virtually everything needed to keep the missions going. I
learned so much from my short 120 assignment with SOG. I later flew with
the 57th Assault Helicopter Company
(based in Kontum), that had the honor of
being the dedicated helicopter support unit for FOB II. I have tried to
practice what I learned about courage, loyalty, faith, honor, selflessness,
keeping your word to your comrades though it could mean your own life, and
the willingness to do whatever is necessary to do the job. I have tried to
instill these traits in my children. I am humbled to this day by what I
saw each and every day of my assignment there.
Your comments about us drivers and our crews are appreciated. I for
one know however that yours was the far greater hazard and sacrifice. I
have
always been proud of the work I did in RVN. In 2 tours I logged more than
3000 hours combat time. In each of my tours my best moments were always
when I was getting the guys out of the sh..., or bringing in some mail and
maybe a beer. Compared to you and every regular grunt who humped a ruck in
the bush I was just another REMF. God Bless, lets get our POW's, MIA's,
and
our fallen brothers back. My flight school roomie, Chuck Osterman was
shot
down and killed (after hostilities ended) as part of the program to bring
our dead home. I have numerous aviator friends who are among the missing
and presumed dead, too many. I for one want a full accounting. Thanks for
helping keep the fight for accountability going on, Respectfully,
Richard C. Olson
CW-4, USA Retired
Nov 1965 - Jun 1987
RVN 2/67 - 3/68
RVN 11/70 - 11/71
The above pic was at a Washington, DC
protest against protesters, 2009
-
|
|
MACV-SOG
Military Assistance Command Vietnam -
Studies and Observation Group
You have
never lived until you have almost died. For those who have fought for it,
life has a special flavor the protected will never know.
(My
Zippo had a SOG crest on one side and the above words on the reverse side --
the only difference was that in place of the five words in have underlined
above was: "FREEDOM HAS A FLAVOR"-Lewis Arnoldt, CCS '70 - '71
.jpg) .jpg)
MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command,
Vietnam - Studies and Observation Group) was an unconventional warfare task
force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The
U.S. Army's Special Forces (Green Berets), Air Force Combat Controllers,
Navy SEALs and other units channeled personnel into MACV-SOG through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under
secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration missions of
strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on
the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.
|
We hit USASOC Hq and it tore my heart out to stand at the wall for
Special Ops Soldiers and see so many names that you and I knew first
hand as friends. I made a suggestion to Tilt that at the next SOA it
might be stunning to have a blown up photo of this wall prominently
displayed. I know that most all of us have never seen this memorial,
as it is behind some security. I'm attaching a couple of photos for
you to see, one is a photo from a distance of the memory wall, and
another is a concrete plaque that SOA donated. You may have seen these
already. You might zoom in on the individual and you can see some of
our heroes that you knew.
Thanks, Mike
|
.jpg)
|
Bob Noe is a good friend of mine, who
I met when stationed at Fort Polk, LA. A few months ago I passed him
some photos of the Green Beret
exhibit on display in the JFK Presidential Library in Boston, MA. I
took these photos when I was vacationing there this past summer
(2004). Greg Metzgar |
Please
E-Mail Robert Noe (CCN 69-70)
for any information. Click
"here" to send email.
|
Young man, young man, what do you wannabe?
Wanna grow up and sit around and drink beers with FOGs and call the
Green Beret a "beanie"? It's easy. Be ready to do 50 pushups in a row. Then 20 chinups
without a break. Before you start. Chug 20 miles with serious rucksack
on your young bod. Now, enlist in the US Army (preferably Airborne Ranger option). Get a
set of genuine paratroop wings affixed to your chest first. A Ranger Tab
will help, too. Do a few years and earn a few stripes with the 82nd Airborne
Division, the Rangers, one-oh-worst, whatever. Prove your mettle in the conventional military first. Then go to SFQ. You've now had a few years to decide where you're
going to fit best; weapons, commo, medic, or engineer. This is where you
start. BTW, re-enlist at this point. Then pass the SFQ and spend a couple of years on an operational team.
You will get to know them as well as your own family. The eleven of them
will know you this well, too. Be prepared ('cause this is what you're gonna do) to face down the 99th
Mongol Horde Regiment in the pitched black of a jungle/desert night when
the weather's bad, there ain't no air support, accompanied by two other
Americans and leading 100 totally terrified local natives. If this is what you really want to do with your life, enlist now.
Otherwise, respect the men who did this to protect your freedoms. (Note, don't remember who sent this to me)
Warning Notice: If
you are not Special Forces Qualified, have not served with Special
Forces, did not serve with SOG, don't claim this status as you will be
exposed in our website's "PHONY WANNABE'S Hall of Shame."--We consider
you as the lowest scumbags on earth, a thief stealing the valor of
others. Your families and friends will be shocked and ashamed when they
discover your deception. In the past number of years, I have had to tell
many wives, children, grandchildren, other relatives, and friends of the
fraudulent status of these individuals, some at the time of their deaths
or thereafter! What a legacy of shame to leave them.RLNoe |
''We held the line. We stopped the falling of the
dominoes,'' ... ''It's not that we lost the war militarily. The fact is, we
as a nation did not make good our commitment to the South Vietnamese.''
See Anti-War's Unintended Consequences
William C. Westmoreland, 1985 @ 173rd Abn Bde Anniversary and
VIETNAM WAR INTERVIEW, COL BUI TIN, COL, NVA & THE ANTIWAR MOVEMENT
HOW THE VIETNAM WAR WAS WON THEN LOST: The
Democrats took over the congress and turned their backs on our ally and the
58 thousand lives lost as well as the thousands and thousands of wounded.
They just got tired of Vietnam and sided with the Anti-war crowed and gave
away a victory which was won. Thousands and thousands of lives were lost in
Vietnam and Cambodia because of their act. I was serving with the 1st
Special Forces Group on Okinawa during this period and we were all sick of
what Congress had done. All I can say is that if anyone ever counts on
America as a friend, don't be surprised and don't count on her to support
you, even if you have it in writing, if the Democrats come to power, they
will sell you down the drain... An act they are capable of, as proven by
history. America is my country and I love her, but the truth is what it
is. RLN \
(copy and paste the url the search engine to view the
video:
http://www.prageruniversity.com/Wisdom-of-the-Masters/How-the-Vietnam-War-Was-Won-and-Lost.html
NOTE:
THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS ATTRIBUTED TO GENERAL GIAP WERE NOT MADE BY HIM AND ARE
URBAN LEGEND: (see
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_general_giap.htm)
"The
Vietnam Redux At last, General Giap has published his memoirs and confirmed
what most Americans knew. The Vietnam war was not lost in Vietnam -- it was
lost at home. It exposes the enormous power of a biased media to cut out the
heart and will of the American public.General Giap was a brilliant, highly
respected leader of the North Vietnam military.The following quote is from
his memoirs currently found in the Vietnam war memorial in Hanoi: "What
we still don't understand is why you Americans stopped the bombing of Hanoi.
You had us on the ropes. If you had pressed us a little harder, just for
another day or two, we were ready to surrender! It was the same at the
battles of TET. You defeated us! We knew it,
and we thought you knew it. But we were elated to notice your media were
definitely helping us. They were causing more disruption in America than we
could in the battlefields. We were ready to surrender. You had won!"
TRIBUTE:
You
know, I am constantly reminded of how "worthless" SF troops are.
Starting with General Abrams and his pack at MACV. As an Air Force
E-6 in MACSOG in 1972, I was aware of the following:
-
The numbers,
location and strength of each NVA division in
South Vietnam
-
What that unit's
actual designation was in the NVA
-
Names and ranks of
the major commanders
-
When that division
left
North Vietnam,
approximately how much they lost in the movement south and where
they staged prior to entering South Vietnam
-
How many and type
of tanks they had
-
When they planned
to attack (April 1, 1972)
All
of this information had been collected mainly by those
"worthless" SF
recon teams at CCN, CCC and CCS. Well any way, it must have been
worthless, because General Abrams and his "Staff" choose to entirely
ignore it. I remember the day the attack started and they said,
"Oh
my, where did all of these people and equipment come from" We are
totally surprised. My ASS!!! Thank
God for U.S. Army Special Forces and if I ever have to go to war
again, please Lord let me be surrounded by them.
Don
Williams, SMSgt, USAF Retired' MACVSOG 60, April 24, 2008
|
This is the Prayer
of the U.S. Army's Special Forces. This image containing the prayer
was printed on the back of the 5th Special Forces Group's 1999 Christmas
Formal program-CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR ENLARGEMENT
"Whoever does not have the stomach
for this fight. Let him depart. Give him money to speed his departure,
since we wish not to die in this man's company. Who ever lives past
today and comes home safely will rouse himself every year on this day.
Show his neighbor his scars and tell embellished stories of all their
great feats of battle. These stories will teach his son, and from this
day until the end of the world, we shall be remembered, we few, we band of
brothers for whoever has shed his blood with me shall be my brother, and
those men afraid to go will think themselves, lesser men as they hear of
how we fought and died together.."
Shakespeare, "Henry V"
Dr.
Peter G. Bourne who spent three months "observing" a
Special Forces A-Team in the RVN
Here
is a link to The
Article.
CONCLUSION
The
findings in this study are in sharp contrast to the observations
made by Harris on combat troops in the Korean conflict. We found
little evidence of the "buddy system" which he
described, nor did we observe in our subjects' significant
emotional dependence on the social fabric around them. External
threats have traditionally been considered a prime factor in
producing cohesion and closeness in a group. However, among the
members of this Special Forces "A" team acceptance of
the dependent role in the group was so alien to their self-image
that the danger that drove them together also stimulated forces
that tended to push them apart.
These
differences appear to be attributable to the unique personalities
of those who choose this way of life. For the average infantry
soldier, often a draftee, combat represents merely a dangerous
threat to his welfare, and he will seek any available form of
physical and emotional support to enhance his survival. By
contrast, the Special Forces soldier
has come to incorporate his ability to survive in combat as part
of his normal adaptation and as a significant aspect of his
self-realization. He seeks exposure to danger with an almost
addictive fervor in order to reconfirm his faith in his own
ability to overcome it. For him, it is not merely to survive but
how often and how independently it is accomplished.
|
|
|
|
