SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam

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SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam

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Product Description
Major John L. Plaster, a three-tour veteran of Vietnam tells the story of the most highly classified United States covert operatives to serve in the war: The Studies and Observations Group, code-named SOG. Comprised ofvolunteers from such elite military units as the Army's Green Berets, the USAF Air Commandos, and Navy SEALs, SOG agents answered directly to the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs, with some missions requiring approval from the White House. Now for the first time, the dangerous assignments of this top-secret unit can at last be revealed!

Selected Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

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Just Tell the TRUTH!, January 29, 2010
When Plaster's book first came out I was very excited-.-finally!-.-someone researched and wrote about some of America's finest warriors. After having read the "novel" I was very disappointed. The exploits of the men in SOG do NOT need to be exaggerated like Plaster has done.

There are three Medals of Honor coming out of the Vietnam era that are what I call sewer covers to military cesspools; ironically all three are from Top Secret operations; LT Joseph "Bob" Kerrey's, SSG Jon Cavaiani's and Captain MacGonagle's. There is nothing better to cover-up; war crimes (Murdering civilians in cold-blood and cutting the throats of children.), military disasters (RRS Hickory) or political failures (USS Liberty) than a shiny Medal of Honor.

I cannot speak for all of John Plaster's book, but the parts where I have some knowledge and where I have conducted EXTENSIVE research-.-I find his non-fiction writing absolutely highly exaggerated fiction; specifically pages 325-330 where he writes about SSG Jon Cavaiani's Medal of Honor.

Fact: Sergeant John Jones was killed after killing two NVA soldiers as he charged from the command bunker firing a M-60 machine-gun-.-NOT trying to surrender.

Fact: Cavaiani was captured on June 5, 1971 by the North Vietnamese ON RRS Hickory hiding in a bunker behind some cardboard and sandbags; NOT 10 days later at FSB Fuller as told in Plaster's book.

Fact: There were NO living American witnesses to support Cavaiani's MOH action for the 5th of June and CCN HQ thought Cavaiani was DEAD, so the portion written up by Plaster in Cavaiani's MOH action covering the 5th of June is fiction. (There was a thick fog covering the area-.-so even observation from the air was not available.) The NVA commander claims he had 42 men in the attack and lost 4 KIA and 7 WIA. Please note: BOTH sides exaggerated how many of the enemy they killed, but both sides reported ACCURATELY their losses to their HQ.

Fact: Cavaiani joined the infamous anti-American Peace Committee at the Plantation Gardens POW camp and made written statements against the United States and made anti-American radio broadcasts over Radio Hanoi above and beyond statements made by POWs who were actually tortured. (Not disclosed in Plaster's book, but well documented in traitor James Daly's book; "A Hero's Welcome". Plaster should have researched Cavaiani's POW conduct before making him a "hero.")

In my personal opinion-.-Jon Cavaiani's Medal of Honor should be revoked-.-almost ALL of the combat action in the citation is without any American witnesses and does not meet Medal of Honor criteria or is highly exaggerated and the combat action that does have witnesses is Cavaiani performing his basic DUTY as the senior NCO.

Sadly-.-and filled with irony-.-many of the names Plaster "drops" throughout his book are REAL SOG heroes, but he tells their stories using the exaggerated "bar room" versions and in MANY cases he writes about them without every having talked to the actual living participants-.-yet-.-with the few men he did communicate with like Cavaiani-.-he takes their lies at face value without making even the most cursory of investigations producing extremely bad non-fiction. If Plaster would have just checked with the internet website [...] he would have seen Cavaiani was captured on June 5, 1971 not ten days later and could NOT possibly have done the things he claims to have done! He did NOT mow down 125 NVA with a machine-gun; kill two NVA with a Gerber knife or E&E for ten days with 120 frag wounds, two gunshot wounds and flesh dripping from his hands from burns to FSB Fuller TWENTY miles away! That is absolute bovine excrement!

For someone with a journalism degree Plaster did not learn to separate fiction from non-fiction and he TOTALLY failed in his investigative skills.

Having served with SOG-CCN as the logistics officer and a member of the senior staff, I was WELL-INFORMED having personally sat in on many debriefings and having personally read many of the now mysteriously "missing" After Action Reports. I can decipher the differences when Plaster drifts away from the truth in his writing-.-but sadly-.-the average reader cannot and must accept everything he has written as it is presented.

My criticism is NOT against many of the fine men who served in SOG-.-but against the way Plaster has chosen to embellish their stories and the ever present "glory-grabbers" who rush forward to have their heads patted. He did a much better job with his picture book.

Sadly, all he needed to do was tell the unembellished truth and leave the "fiction" writing to authors like me.

Donald E. Zlotnik, Major (Ret.) Special Forces

Author of ten war NOVELS.

zlotnikde@yahoo.com

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

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Most americans want to forget Vietnam......, January 22, 2010
For most americans who lived through the war, Vietnam is a bad memory. As more americans died, the war became a catalyst for change. It resulted in sharp divisions between conservatives and liberals, pro and anti-war factions. These were formed roughly along the same lines as those resulting from the civil rights movement. Many draftees escaped to Canada to avoid service. Others proudly served with valor behind enemy lines in some of the worst conditions in the history of warfare. These were the men of the Special Operations Group(S.O.G).The men of the Special Operations Group lived a James Bond type existence in secret actions in North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Operating in small squads, the S.O.G. warriors were vastly outnumbered and risked their lives with a professionalism that could only be explained by fierce patriotism and unit loyalty. The book chronicles the exciting activities of those who were clandestinely inserted into enemy territory, often taking fire even as they approached the initial landing zones.. There were many heroic rescues of S.O.G.teams that at times encountered hundreds of North Vietnam Army soldiers in hot pursuit. The contributions to the war effort by this small but motivated force was incredible. They sabotaged the enemy with psych games and trickery, but mostly succeed with good soldiering.. Plaster finally gives the S.O.G. warrior the recognition deserved for a job well done. Welcome home.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

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Excellent Book, December 16, 2008
If you are looking for a very detailed, action packed book, this is it. The sacrifice for their own lives and lives of their fellow soliders is astounding. This books gives specific details of the covert-ops that happened throughout the war. The willingness of these men to put themselves in extremely dangerous situation for intelligence or to save pilots, POW's or overrun troops is incredible. I am very grateful to have such honorable men fight for our country. Please read.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

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Plausible Deniability, October 07, 2008
MACV's Studies and Observations Group was once so secret that the U.S. government denied its existence.

MACV-SOG-Military Assistance Command, Vietnam-Special Operations Group (later renamed Studies and Observations Group)-was the elite military unit of the Vietnam War, so secret that its existence was denied by the U.S. government. The group reported directly to the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff, and much of its history and exploits were concealed for years from the general public by a veil of secrecy and confidentiality. John L. Plaster served three one-year tours with MACV-SOG, and his book SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam is a true insider's account, revealing much about this top-secret commando unit and its covert missions in North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The all-volunteer MACV-SOG (most were U.S. Army Special Forces "Green Berets") carried out some of the most dangerous and challenging special operations of the Vietnam War. MACV-SOG made high-altitude, low-opening parachute jumps behind enemy lines, routinely carried out reconnaissance missions along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, penetrated deep into Laos and Cambodia, recovered downed pilots and attempted several POW rescues. Ranging deep in the enemy's rear, MACV-SOG reconnaissance teams forced Hanoi to divert 40,000 troops-about four divisions-to rear security missions along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

From his own personal knowledge of MACV-SOG operations and from interviews with more than 100 MACV-SOG veterans, along with recently declassified documents, Plaster has crafted a heavily anecdotal and riveting account. He offers tales of close, violent combat actions between MACV-SOG teams and large numbers of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops. While some infantrymen in Vietnam despaired of ever seeing the enemy, MACV-SOG teams often found themselves fighting their way out of a hornet's nest of angry NVA battalions. Plaster recounts some of the most extraordinary tales of the Vietnam War. Some stories will lie to rest old rumors; others will just raise more questions. For example, Plaster describes how two Chinese advisers were killed when reconnaissance team (RT) Maine ambushed an NVA company command element, killing the commander, his three platoon leaders and two Chinese advisers as they gathered for lunch. Plaster also tells about the "crazy Canadians" who served in the U.S. Army with MACV-SOG, including Robert Graham, who once carried a Simpsons (Sears) 55-pound hunting bow and shot broadhead-tipped arrows at the NVA during a firefight.

Plaster relates some of MACV-SOG's lighter moments as well. Mixed in with the pathos of combat is some great humor. Readers will not be disappointed; the book is worth its cover price just for one very funny story about a bicycle. In another amusing anecdote, Harvey "Hippie" Saal walks buck-naked into an NCO club after he is refused entrance for wearing a dirty uniform. There are a number of stories about the legendary Walt Shumate, and Plaster explains why there were so many Walt Shumate stories.

Indeed, MACV-SOG is the stuff of legends. Legends such as the 14 men of RT Kansas who held off an NVA regiment; the captured NVA "Earth Angels" used against their former comrades; the combat high-altitude, low-opening jumps into NVA redoubts; and the men of RT Colorado's who faced nearly 300 NVA formed in ranks in front of the team's eight Claymore mines. Another MACV-SOG legend and one of its well-known characters, Jerry "Mad Dog" Shriver, received his sobriquet courtesy of Radio Hanoi. Resplendent when off duty in his derby hat and blue-velvet smoking jacket, his closest companion was Klaus, a German shepherd. Shriver, who often ended up in situations where he was in danger of being overrun, once told his air cover: "No, no. I've got `em right where I want `em - surrounded from the inside." Like many MACV-SOG recon men, Shriver's luck ran out eventually. Last seen assaulting an NVA bunker line, he was declared missing in action.

MACV-SOG had more than its share of MIAs. One of the most well-known was Larry Thorne, a Finnish veteran of the so-called Winter War against the Soviet Union during the prelude to World War II and a recipient of the Mannerheim Cross. Thorne was carrying a bolt-action .30-06 Springfield when he became MACV-SOG's first MIA in Laos. Stories abound of teams that disappeared without a trace, though sometimes circumstances and evidence (such as proof that NVA concussion grenades had been used) led MACV-SOG to believe that the men were captured. A dozen entire teams are still unaccounted for.

Of the men known to be prisoners of war, only a few returned home alive. No MACV-SOG POWs were released from Laos. Of the 58 MACV-SOG MIAs in Laos, only one returned-Charles Wilklow. Wilklow escaped captivity after being staked out by the NVA as human bait for rescuers for several days. His captors had thought he was too close to death to need a guard, but he managed to crawl off into the jungle and evade recapture until rescued.

MACV-SOG recon casualties exceeded 100 percent, the highest sustained American loss rate since the Civil War. In 1968, every MACV-SOG recon man was wounded at least once, and about half were killed. But despite such high losses, MACV-SOG boasted the highest "kill ratio" in U.S. military history, topping out at 158-to-1 in 1970.

SOG reads like "who's who" of Green Berets. There are several names that many Vietnam veterans and most Special Forces veterans will recognize: Billy Waugh, Larry Thorne, Dick Meadows, Jerry "Mad Dog" Shriver, Fred Zabitosky, Walter Shumate, Jon Cavaiani, Roy Benavidez, Norm Doney and Robert Howard. Some like Benavidez, Cavaiani, Howard and Zabitosky, are remembered for the deeds that earned them the Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor was awarded to nine MACV-SOG men, including Lieutenant Tom Morris, a sea-air-land forces (SEAL) officer, and Lieutenant Loren Hagen, the last U.S. Army member to be awarded the Medal of Honor in Vietnam.

With small reconnaissance teams numbering less than 10 men, MACV-SOG tied down thousands of NVA troops, provided invaluable intelligence information to the Pentagon, rescued downed pilots and destroyed large amounts of enemy materiel while inflicting grievous losses on the NVA. Earning their place in history with daring exploits and exemplary accomplishments, the men of MACV's Special Operations Group have been brought out of the shadows by John L. Plaster's illuminating book.

Caveat: reviewer knows the author, John Plaster

Rob Krott is the author of: Save the Last Bullet for Yourself: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia

SAVE THE LAST BULLET FOR YOURSELF: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

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Outstanding, June 21, 2008
This exceptional story of US commandos and their allies the Montagnards, called the Yards, who were fiercely enemies of the North Vietnamese communists, is written by one of a three tours veterans in the SOG.

John Plaster is particularly good in the way he reveals the magnificent acts of heroism, of chivalry, of gallantry, of comradeship these commandos lived.

These true elite fighters who always fought behind the enemy lines inflicted tremendous damages to the NVA forces. As the author quotes in the book : " SOG recon men consistently killed more than one hundred NVA for each list Green Beret, a ratio that climbed as high as 150:1"
Moreover: "At one point each American Green Beret operating in Laos was tying down six hundred NVA defenders, or about one NVA battalion per SOG recon man in the field".

These soldiers are the quintessence of qualities of the USA. As a French citizen (with some family having fought in the French Para Legion in Indochina) I could not think otherwise than them being of the true nobility.

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