Chain of Command Assigned as OIC of the Special Support Group to MACV SOG (Studies and Observations Group). My detachment included a USAF Captain; WO George Windsor, USMC; CTRC Reed (?); CTR2 Marchetti (?); SGT Leonard, US Army communicator missing a finger on right hand. Chief of SOG was COL John K. Singlaub. I was administratively assigned to the DoDSpecRep Office on Tan Son Nhut. Chief of DoDSpecRep was CAPT Rod Potolicchio (my former CO in Bremerhaven) later relieved by COL Munson, USAF. The DoDSpecrep Ops Officer was CDR Bob Horan, later relieved by CDR Jim McFarland, USN. Other members of the DoDSpecrep staff included LTC Jerry Beshens, USArmy; LT Dwayne Poston,USN; WO Letondra (?),USMC; LTC Greenlaw, US Army; Ron Quesenberry, Civilian; Berkley Cook, Civilian.
Other Memories Tet Offensive of Jan. 1968 Trips to Danang, Phu Bai and Vung Tau
Presidential Unit Citation
The Studies and Observations Group is cited for extraordinary heroism, great combat achievement and unwavering fidelity while executing unheralded top secret missions deep behind enemy lines across Southeast Asia. Incorporating volunteers from all branches of the Armed Forces, and especially, U.S. Army Special Forces, SOG's ground, air and sea units fought officially denied actions which contributed immeasurably to the American war effort in Vietnam.
MACV-SOG reconnaissance teams composed of Special Forces soldiers and indigenous personnel penetrated the enemy's most dangerous redoubts in the jungled Laotian wilderness and the sanctuaries of eastern Cambodia. Pursued by human trackers and even bloodhounds, these small teams outmaneuvered, outfought and outran their numerically superior foe to uncover key enemy facilities; rescue downed pilots; plant wiretaps, mines and electronic sensors; capture valuable enemy prisoners; ambush convoys; discover and assess targets for B-52 strikes; and inflict casualties all out of proportion to their own losses. When enemy counter-measures became dangerously effective, SOG operators innovated their own counters, from high altitude parachuting and unusual explosive devices, to tactics as old as the French and Indian War. Fighting alongside their Montagnard, Chinese Nung, Cambodian and Vietnamese allies, Special Forces-led Hatchet Force companies and platoons staged daring raids against key enemy facilities in Laos and Cambodia, overran major munitions and supply stockpiles, and blocked enemy highways to choke off the flow of supplies to South Vietnam.
SOG's cross-border operations proved an effective economy-of-force, compelling the North Vietnamese Army to divert 50,000 soldiers to rear area security duties, far from the battlefields of South Vietnam. Supporting these hazardous missions were SOG's own U.S. and South Vietnamese Air Force transport and helicopter squadrons, along with USAF Forward Air Controllers and helicopter units of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps. These courageous aviators often flew through heavy fire to extract SOG operators from seemingly hopeless situations, saving lives by selflessly risking their own. SOG's Vietnamese naval surface forces--instructed and advised by U.S. Navy SEALs--boldly raided North Vietnam's coast and won surface victories against the North Vietnamese Navy, while indigenous agent teams penetrated the very heartland of North Vietnam.
Despite casualties that sometimes became universal, SOG's operators never wavered, but fought throughout the war with the same flair, fidelity and intrepidity that distinguished SOG from its beginning. The Studies and Observations Group' s combat prowess, martial skills and unacknowledged sacrifices saved many American lives, and provide a paragon for America' s future special operations forces.
