really fun read, this is a Viet Nam Warrior's Memoir, All the ingredients are there, the technical tic toc, the camaraderie the loose understanding of the Strategic concerns, But its a really good way to get an understanding of SOG, the Studies and Operations group that was responsible for gathering live intelligence along the Ho Chi Minh Trail from, the last days of the war, when it was militarily pretty even, but politically going against the US/ARVN force.
I enjoy comparing the material support the Americans demand comparing it to the spare British and French efforts in the same time period.
People who have enjoyed a diet of SAS will love to see the American approach, I think all level of reader will understand and enjoy this book, Incredible Hostory of Secret Warfare, WOW!!! Simply: wow! John Plaster is one of those rare soldierwriters who has helped preserve the history of a small group of guys who did the work of heroes and giants in an entertaining and eloquent way.
They did it in secret at the time and as a result their stories have not been often told.
I first met some of these guys inand
they impressed me immediately as special soldiers in all sorts of ways.
A quarter of a century later I met some of them again while working on books of my own.
The proper name of the community we commonly call "Green Berets" is the US Army Special Forces, Plaster's book about SOG explains why they were and are special and it describes a time when a very few men did very large and courageous deeds.
As one oldtime SF sergeant once told me of the SOG era, "It was a time when giants roamed the earth.
" He was talking about John Plaster and the men whose lives and deaths are described in this book,
I like anything John Plaster writes and commend his work to your attention, Buy, Borrow or Burn: Borrow,
Exhilarating account of the special force operations in the jungles of Vietnam, I was astounded to learn of the complete isolation that small teams were dropped into and the struggle to survive and complete objectives.
One Word: Exhilarating, Good read. A great read on a now declassified section of Vietnam history, Plaster helps peel the onion of truth surrounding what actually happened in Vietnam or Cambodia/Laos/etc, This is the first book I have read on SOG and I'm happy that I chose one written by an actual SF soldier and not an Ivy League historian or a pitiful ghost writer.
A typical story like this is told, if at all, by the daydreaming Ishmael type of postwreck survivor, yet here we have the harpooner telling the tale with thoughtful and photographic intellect, something of an oddity in a world captained by all manner of maniacs.
The book I think is not just a history of SOG but a book for the legacy of SOG and the family and friends of SOG who survive them.
It begins with the gruelling training of fresh infantry recruits and the covert manner with which they become Special Forces and quickly moves on to describe in intimate detail many secret MACVSOG missions into Cambodia and Laos fromto.
For me the book is not only an interesting window into SOG and U, S. Army operations but also foreshadows and illuminates many heroic actions, irritations, and shortcomings of later military engagements, such that I witnessed during my time as a clueless U.
S. Army Reserve SGT in Iraq fromas a REMF in a freshlyoccupied Iraqi ArmyAir base where there really was no rear echelon beyond Baghdad International Airport and where fuelhauling truck drivers were bouncing around at night RoadWarriorlike between camps only to be underestimated and unappreciated during the day.
We were not anywhere near the level of giants, as these SOG commandos truly were, or even SF, or Marines, or even infantry soldiers, but the same threads are there and unfortunately so is the war, and the weird food, and the sometimes arrogant incompetence from the officer class which is a system I believe needs to change IMHO.
I came out of this book with a deep appreciation for the harpooners of the Vietnam era, as well as a deeper understanding of my own experiences and probably a shared irritation with a world that is far from simple or "black amp white", that is best served by trudging on through the mire with an intelligent, open mind, and eyes, and by sticking your tongue in its ear.
Terrific book about SOG unit in Vietnam, . . lots of true secret actions by a soldier that live through it all, . . Airborne All The Way! I have a distant cousin, Capt Raymond C Stacks, who was MACVSOG with theth Special Forces group from FOBwho has been designated as KIA.
His chopper went down in Laos onNov,
All the events in this book took place after that event, I read this to get a better understanding of what the Green Berets did during the Vietnam War, I came away knowing that Ray was highly intelligent, extremely brave, and a hero,
I highly recommend this book, Ok Amazing first hand account of covert warfare in South East Asia, One of the best and most informative narratives of combat from this period that I have read, Really enjoyed this, masterfully written and very candid, couldn't put it down, Just wild, mind blowing, outstanding book, I'm thinking about it all the time this and Plaster's other book, "SOG, " It's simply hard to believe what these guys did, If you're wondering what Rambo did, or how he became Rambo, these books will tell you, It's a genuine miracle Plaster is alive today to write these books, How any of these Green Beret recon guys made it out alive after repeated missions in Laos and Cambodia is remarkable.
This book is something of a biography, and the first part, where Plaster earns his Green Beret can be skimmed.
Once he gets to Vietnam, however, it becomes unforgettable, There's no way, none, I can envision myself doing these things, and God knows I've no desire to, But I do admire what they did, I am astonished at how they did it and how good they were at surviving.
One can argue endlessly about how effective SOG was in the end, or about America's experience in Vietnam more broadly, and certainly the latter is a never ending conversation in our lifetimes anyway.
But for sheer excitement and outrageous exploits, "Secret Commandos" is hard to beat, For readers who like war stories or military history, Plaster'sbook are highly, highly recommended, Very good book documenting some of the bravest men of the Vietnam war, Tough to read due to the authors style, Could have been a lot easier to read with more chapters or breaks, The current format of paragraph after paragraph made it difficult for me, John L. Plater'sSecret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG is a grippingstar account of formerly highly secret Special Forces action deep in enemycontrolled Vietnam and even Laos and Cambodia.
Plaster takes us from the grueling Stateside training to the stillsteep learning curve in the hinterlands of the 'Nam, to the escapades of anythinggoes Saigon and the perilous smallteam missions in the fieldsome across the border, with only "sanitized" nonU.
S. weapons carried and all IDs left locked back in the base's safeas friend after friend is killed in a war America is already beginning to abandon.
The men believe in their mission, truly believe, even as Plaster points out the slipperiness and corruption endemic in the South Vietnamese government, for the Communists were no angels.
Some of the Green Beret missions are almost literally incredible, But they are true, for Plaster was there,
Plaster has many firsthand stories to tell, whether harrowing or chuckleworthy, but he also relates many incidents recounted to him by other fellow soldiers of the innocuously named Studies and Observations Group, thus giving a much more well rounded view than any single person's memoir ever could.
Aside from the bravery and determination, one thing that really struck me was the sense of loss felt by these warriors as U.
S. commitment waned and it became clear that the final withdrawal was coming, Inone of Plaster's buddies, "who quoted Davy Crockett and lived selflessly and fought bravely, at last confronted what was ailing him.
'Back in 'I told the Montagnards, "We ain't the French, America doesn't run off and leave people, "' Lowell shook his head, 'I promised 'em. I promised the Yards,' he sobbed, 'My God, don't they know, I promised the Yards'"Simon amp Schuster paperback, page,
Secret Commandos is by turns funny and sad and thrilling, Illustrated withpages of blackandwhite photos, most taken in the field by the author and his comrades, the book also concludes with an Afterword sketching the disposition ofof Plaster's teammatesodd years later, and it contains a very serviceable index as well.
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