Tales From the Teamhouse

Vol. I, II, & III

Tales from the Teamhouse Vol I 500+ pages, Vol. II 250+ pages,  and  Vol. III 250+ pages  true stories by Special Forces Teamhouse list members, published by Special Forces Teamhouse in conjunction with Old Mountain Press  Volume II and III are a continuation of the first Tales from the Teamhouse Vol. I. All include life experiences by Special Forces soldiers. The intent is to familiarize the public with the many situations experienced by these Quiet Professionals.

About the Teamhouse Books The many authors are members of the Special Forces Team House (list) which is owned by Bob Jack.

The US Army Special Forces is composed of men who are in excellent physical condition, high intelligence to be able to think for themselves fast with the ability to improvise and invent when needed. They are trained to be a trainer, and a double volunteer for Airborne and Special Forces to go anywhere in the world on a moment's notice. Their teams are composed of experts in Communications, Medics, Demolition, Operations and Intelligence and Weapons.

These are some of their stories.

SF Motto: De Oppresso Liber - To Free the Oppressed


NOTE

All  books listed here are FREE if you participate in the Kindle Unlimited and/or the Kindle Owners' Lending Library: NOTE Amazon Prime members who own a Kindle can choose one book from each month with no due dates.

PLEASE SHARE THIS LINK WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

VOL. I IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE $6.99

VOL. II IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE $4.99

VOL. III NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE $4.99

EXCERPTS Tales from the Teamhouse Vol. I, II, & III

Other Special Forces Related and Action Adventure Books!

See all Kindle books by Old Mountain Press

Vacation weekly/summer rental cabin Western North Carolina

On the Cover
The Team Photo in the left middle is the Katum Team Photo (A-322) taken about 22 April `69. Front row kneeling (L - R) SFC Homer W. Smith (Acting Team Sergeant /Hvy Wpns), SGT Charles E. VanAmburg (Sr Commo), CPT Francis J. Kane . Back row standing (L - R) SSG Reginald T. Manning (Sr. Medic), SGT Jerry A. Parker (Jr Medic), 1LT Emil L. Posey (CAPO/PsyOps), SP5 James E. (Jim) Jessick (Demo), SFC James E. Parnell (Intel), 1LT Kenneth D. Walters (XO), SP4 Stephen King (Ass’t Intel), SGT Richard A. VandaLinda (Weapons). 

Individual sitting on jeep is Ben Roberts. Ivan Bomark is the driver. 

Lower left corner: Taken at My Phuoc Tay, A-411. From the left to right, Larry K. Manning, Herbert Anderson (KIA January 16, 1968) and LTC Maggie. 

Lower right with mustache Bill Edge.  Radio operator directly above Bill is unknown.

Other  eBooks:

From Old Mountain Press' eBook Site

More like: Growing up in Vienna, Georgia, and WDIZ Rock 100/FM

In 1994, the comedy film Airheads popularized the legend of lovable losers taking over a radio station to promote their cause. But thirteen years earlier, five dudes from Deland, Florida had done just that. On August 6, 1981, members of the Ida Lupino Liberation Organization took WDIZ Rock 100-Orlando hostage—without firing a shot, without hurting anyone, and without being arrested. The answers to the questions of who these "Rock-n-Roll Commandos" were, how they did it, and most importantly, why they did it—have never seen the light of day. Until now. Dreams I’m Never Gonna See: The Takeover of WDIZ Rock 100 is a rollicking retrospective on the heydays of the central Florida music scene between 1975-1985. Brian Lee Knopp offers a hilarious yet thoughtful first-hand account of the rise and inglorious demise of the influential Orlando rock radio stations that ruled that era, and of the consequences to devoted fans like himself. "No one who experienced the central Florida music scene . . . could remain a mere mortal for long. The true believers became Children of the Sun. They glowed brighter than neon flamingos. They breathed in pure jasmine and breathed out the erotic scent of Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil. In the sticky heat that lasted through the night, They pulled excitement out of the sky. Lightning flashed from Their eyes and burned desire into hard purpose. Troubles were transitory. Defeat was for lesser creatures."—from Dreams I’m Never Gonna See: The Takeover of WDIZ Rock 100. A True Story.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE | $2.99

FREE if you participate in the Kindle Unlimited and/or the Kindle Owners' Lending Library: NOTE Amazon Prime members who own a Kindle can choose one book from each month with no due dates.

Growing Up in Vienna, Georgia: A Collection of Short Stories by Tom Davis. A collection of humorous short stories about a boy growing up in the south during the 50's. Guaranteed to make you laugh out loud three times or you have no sense of humor:-)

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE | $3.99

FREE if you participate in the Kindle Unlimited and/or the Kindle Owners' Lending Library: NOTE Amazon Prime members who own a Kindle can choose one book from each month with no due dates.

NOTE: Copyrighted by Tom Davis 2014. All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts used in reviews, no portion of this work may be reproduced or published without expressed written permission from the authors or the authors’ agents. 

 

 Helloooo Vietnam, 364 Days and a Wake-up. This is Chapter 2 of Davis' memoir,The Most Fun I Ever Had With My Clothes On: A March from Private to Colonel. This Kindle version recounts his Vietnam experience on a Special Forces A Detachment and his time training Cambodian soldiers. Order the paperback 328 pages with 120+ action photos by clicking the link above.

In his memoir the author relates his experiences during the thirty-one years spent in the US Army, rising through the ranks from private to full colonel. Twenty of those years he served with US Army Special Forces (Green Berets). This book chronicles his time in three combat zones: Vietnam, Bosnia, and Iraq/Turkey. Included are his experiences commanding Special Forces Operational A Detachments which specialized in Underwater Operations, High Altitude Low Opening Parachuting, Mountaineering, and Small Atomic Demolitions Munitions as well as two Special Forces Battalions and a Joint Special Operations Task Force. Each chapter covers his duties and responsibilities at the Army Installation where he served. Some times funny. Some times sad. Always interesting.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE ONLY $3.99

Click Podcast to hear the reading conducted at City Lights. (Limited Time Posted)

Entire memoir available as in PAPERBACK

NOTE: Copyrighted by Old Mountain Press 2014.  All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts used in reviews, no portion of this work may be reproduced or published without expressed written permission from the authors or the authors’ agents. 

Return to top

Stumbling Toward Enlightenment A Wife’s Thirty-year Journey with Her Green Beret is a companion memoir to her husband's, COL Tom Davis, memoir The Most Fun I Ever Had With My Clothes On: A March from Private to Colonel.

You might think you know what it takes to be a US Special Forces Green Beret soldier during a time of war. But very few understand what it takes to remain his wife and constant companion for over forty years. Polly Davis does. With courage and wit and a heart too big to fail, Davis’ memoir is at once an adventure tale, an enduring love story, and an unwitting case study of true grace under pressure. In the words of her husband, COL Tom Davis, "She's one tough Green Beret. HOOAH!"

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE ONLY $6.99

Entire memoir available as in PAPERBACK

Return to top

Special Forces A Teams is a portion of the author’s memoir, The Most Fun I Ever Had With My Clothes On: A March from Private to Colonel, COL Tom “The Squid” Davis recounts his experiences serving as commander of four Special Forces A Detachments during the 1970's. These teams specialize in Underwater Operations (SCUBA), Mountaineering, Small Atomic Demolitions Munitions (SADM), and High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) Parachuting. In addition to serving in the United States, he and his team of Green Berets tromped the lands of Germany, France, England, and Denmark. The narrative with the accompanying photos gives incite into the type of training missions carried out by the various specialized Operational A Detachments belonging to a US Army Special Forces Group. Order the paperback memoir 328 pages with 120+ action photos by clicking the link above.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE $3.99

Entire memoir available as in PAPERBACK

NOTE: Copyrighted by Old Mountain Press 2015.  All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts used in reviews, no portion of this work may be reproduced or published without expressed written permission from the authors or the authors’ agents. 

Return to top

Adventures in Iraq and Bosnia. Time frame 1995-1997. In this excerpt from the author’s memoir, The Most Fun I Ever Had With My Clothes On: A March from Private to Colonel, COL Davis describes his time as the commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force Commander in support of Operation Provide Comfort II. This combined operation enforced the "No Fly" zone over northern Iraq. This took place between the two Gulf Wars when "no" US forces were in Iraq. None but Special Forces that is. Davis described the operations in Northern Iraq and his visit to a Kurdish village.

As the Inspector General of the United States Special Operations Command, Davis was sent into Bosnia to investigate an accidental discharge by a Special Forces soldier which resulted in wounding a US Navy SEAL. Here he recounts his journey through the war torn country, giving his impressions of life in this once pristine land.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE $2.99

Entire memoir available as in PAPERBACK

Return to top

Pass Me That Skull: Misadventures in Vietnam by COL Tom Davis is the combination of two “war stories” from my Vietnam days. One from B-32, our higher Special Forces Headquarters. The other took place during my one and only visit to Saigon. They are stories that did not make it into my memoir, The Most Fun I Ever Had With My Clothes On: A March from Private to Colonel, as my wife, Polly more than 30 years married to a Special Forces Soldier, used her veto authority stating the stories too childish and immature for the memoir. Women. They’ll never understand us. Anyway, both are true and require only a little embellishment. So, read and enjoy! AND Warning: This book contains one nude picture of a Vietnamese stripper at the Special Forces' All Ranks Club B-32 Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam.

That night I drank an Atomic Cocktail from the back of a VC’s skull then fought off a robber. Read more by clicking on the link below and ordering the book!

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE ONLY $2.99

Return to top

The Patrol Order by Col (Ret.) Tom Davis is a "How To" book on writing a Ranger Patrol Order. This is a “How To” book on writing a Ranger Patrol Order. With this companion book to the Ranger Handbook, the reader can organize and conduct a combat or reconnaissance patrol with all the detail of a Ranger operation. Click the thumbnail graphic to read more about the book.
Much of this patrol order is presented in the first person. This gives the patrol leader a feel for the detail required. It also serves to remind the patrol leader of the many considerations that must be taken into account. While much of the narration may be used in an actual order, the patrol leader is cautioned to tailor the order to fit the Mission, Enemy, Terrain, Troops, and Time available (METT-T). The narrative should also be modified to conform with your unit’s SOPs. Also found in this work are Special Forces Detachment B-52 (Project Delta) Reconnaissance Tips of the Trade (1970). Herein lists over 200 tips ranging from Load Bearing equipment, Recon, Forward air controller (FAC), Remain overnight (RON), Breaking out of encirclement, PW snatch, Movement Techniques, Infiltration / exfiltration to list a few. DISCLAIMER: IAW Joint Ethics Regulation (JER) Section 2-207, the views presented in this work are entirely personal in nature and do not necessarily represent those of the Army.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE $3.99

NOTE: Copyrighted by Tom Davis 2014. All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts used in reviews, no portion of this work may be reproduced or published without expressed written permission from the authors or the authors’ agents. 

Return to top

Detachment B-52 (Project Delta) Reconnaissance Tips of the Trade circa. 15 August 1970 Vietnam was prepared by Detachment B-52. Commanders of all units were encouraged to disseminate, widely, the information contained herein. The information is presented in  “Recon Tips” is appropriate for use in unit and individual training of US and indigenous personnel. Such information can be of significant value to units engaged in conventional patrolling as well as special reconnaissance units.

Herein lists over 200 tips ranging from Load Bearing Equipment, Recon, Forward Air Controller (Fac), Remain Overnight (Ron), Breaking out of Encirclement, Pw Snatch, Movement Techniques, Infiltration / Exfiltration to list a few.

With additional input provided by COL Tom Davis, author of The Most Fun I Ever Had With My Clothes On: A March From Private to Colonel.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE $3.99

Return to top

Operation Ivory Coast AKA The Son Tay Raid: A Short Briefing. Operation Ivory Coast AKA The Son Tay Raid was a rescue mission conducted on 21 November 1970 to free 61 US prisoners held by the North Vietnamese in the Son Tay prisoner-of-war camp. The North Vietnamese government held sixty-one American service men. This joint Army/Air Force operation was commanded by Col Arthur D. “Bull” Simons. He and his 56 Army Special Forces soldiers conducted this daring operation only 23 miles west of Hanoi, North Vietnam. This eBook is the entire briefing on "The Raid" written by an unknown author. At the end of this short briefing, the author included handwritten notes. It had no classification. The document was found it in a safe in the US section of the Korean Special Forces compound. Read more about this book..

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE ONLY $2.99

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR BARNES AND NOBLE NOOK $3.99

NOTE: Copyrighted by Old Mountain Press 2014.  All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts used in reviews, no portion of this work may be reproduced or published without expressed written permission from the authors or the authors’ agents.

Return to top

De Oppresso Liber: A Poetry and Prose Anthology by Special Forces Soldiers in eBook format.  Published by Old Mountain Press. The book's theme deals with armed conflict and/or preparation for the same. This 200+ page anthology consists of poems and prose (fiction and nonfiction) and Words of Wisdom and Other Truths by Special Forces qualified solders about or pertaining to war or the training for war.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE $6.99

NOTE: Collection copyrighted by Old Mountain Press. Individual authors retain all rights to their included work

Return to top

SUN TZU ON THE ART OF WAR: THE OLDEST MILITARY TREATISE IN THE WORLD  Sun Tzu on the Art of War is the oldest military treatise in the world. It has been used as reference material in almost every instruction which educates young men and women in the art of war. It has been on the reading list in the Special Forces school at Ft. Bragg, NC since it was started.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE for only $2.99

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR B&N NOOK for only $2.99

NOTE: Copyrighted by Old Mountain Press 2014. All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts used in reviews, no portion of this work may be reproduced or published without expressed written permission from the authors or the authors’ agents. 

Return to top

The R-Complex an action adventure novel by Tom Davis. John Crown believed that his Special Forces training and missions existed now only as distant memories. But when his pregnant wife is killed in an "accident" at the hands of cold-blooded, professional car thieves and racketeers, something else dies too: John’s new life as a husband, soon-to-be father, and successful software engineer in Atlanta, Georgia. To track down his wife’s unknown murderers, John sets a series of ingenious–and deadly–traps for unwitting, criminal prey. John fast becomes the underworld’s worst nightmare: a Special Forces-trained vigilante who obeys no law except the one that will bring him peace–the law of revenge. What he doesn’t know is that some of his prey welcome the challenge, anxious and willing to play his deadly game–to win.

The R-complex is a fast-paced action adventure novel packed with organized crime, drug cartels, terrorists groups, revenge killings, brutal murders, improvised demolitions, a man who proves to be the ultimate killing machine, a female assassin, and a Special Forces A Team infiltrating Colombia, South America, to bring two villains to justice.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE | $3.99

NOTE: Copyrighted by Tom Davis 2014. All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts used in reviews, no portion of this work may be reproduced or published without expressed written permission from the authors or the authors’ agents.

Return to top

Special Forces Association Chapter 17 has republish the book SAGE: The Man They Called "Dagger" of the O.S.S. 430 pages a memoir by Col. Jerry Sage of the OSS and former commander of the 10th Special Forces Group (A) in Bad Tolz/Lenggries Germany. During his three years of captivity in a German POW camp, Sage helped work on the three-tunnel escape project that formed the plot for the movie The Great Escape. Sage earned the nickname "Cooler King" because he was placed in solitary confinement 15 times in the Nazi camp Stalag Luft III. Drop by and check it out!

SFA Chapter 17 has updated the original book with excerpts from Col. Sage’s O.S.S. file and other reference material. One example from the OSS file is Will Bill Donovan’s letter to Mrs. Sage notifying her of the status of her husband! Also included are thoughts about the book and Special Forces in general from several Special Forces soldiers.

Paperback, hardback and hardback limited edition (# of 170) copies are available.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE | $9.99

 

Sex, Spies, and Rock & Roll by Alan Coldstone. The year is 1972; British Empire assets and Israel are threatened by a new and deadly weapon of mass destruction. The top Secret British Intelligence agency M.I.6. and the Mossad cooperate in planning a ruthless germ warfare attack on the perpetrators.

In a thrilling climax, British agents battle the Syrian terrorists in the Intensive Care Unit of the Berkeley Children's Hospital. A young cancer victim strikes the first blow with a suicide bomb.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE $2.99 US

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE £1.99 UK

Return to top

Vienna: M.I.6 and the Penny-Lolita Pawn Gambit by Alan Coldstone Dr. Livingstone is suddenly dispatched to Vienna, in June 1975,to help the local M.I.6 station and the British Embassy, who are temporarily overwhelmed by a perfect storm of espionage activity. It all starts with the urgent need to make Melinda Maclean, the wife of the British Foreign Office "defector", disappear, using a combination of surgery and following sealed orders from M.I.6 headquarters in London.

Then follows more unexpected drama as Livingstone’s team get involved with the retrieval of some very embarrassing films dating from the 1930’s, just before the Second German War. This brings Dr. Livingstone back in contact with Hans Linker who was at Cambridge University with Livingstone in the 1960’s. In turn, Linker and the Bishop lead the M.I.6 team to Britain’s youngest and bravest spy, Penny-Lolita, who is a sex slave working for the evil Professor Dublosh.

The action is non stop, as Dr. Fuchs has fallen in love with Penny-Lolita and wants to defect. This is not a simple business as Fuchs is a top bacteriologist working on the secret V3 revenge weapon, for Austria and Russia. Just how this is attempted is described in lurid detail

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE $2.99 US

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE £2.45 UK

Return to top

M.I.6 Secret Double Penetration by Alan Coldstone. Dr. Livingstone of Britain’s top secret M.I.6 is in the fight for his life against the evil Professor Dublosh and the sinister Khali cult. It starts in the battleground zone of Belfast in Northern Ireland where the ‘Knights of Khali’ have infiltrated the Irish Republican Army resulting in a devastating bomb attack. “The dancing teen age girls were hit so hard by the blast wave that many of their bodies were never recovered...the streets were awash with blood and gore… Penny and her friend Patsy were found blown in half, the ‘Double Dahlia’!”

The “most dangerous group of men in the British Empire”, the M.I.6 Authorization Committee, plans its chilling revenge using a double penetration technique. Chemical warfare weapons provided by Porton are just the beginning; the Knights of Khali develop horrible genital cancers, “cabbage dicks”, after their safe house is penetrated.

But once again M.I.6 Emerges as victorious over the evil forces trying to hurt the U.S. and her staunch ally, the British Empire.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE $2.99 US

NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AMAZON KINDLE £1.99 UK

Return to top

 

About the Tales from the Teamhouse Books
The many authors are members of the Special Forces Team House (list) which is owned by Bob Jack.

The US Army Special Forces is composed of men who are in excellent physical condition, high intelligence to be able to think for themselves fast with the ability to improvise and invent when needed. They are trained to be a trainer, and a double volunteer for Airborne and Special Forces to go anywhere in the world on a moment's notice. Their teams are composed of experts in Communications, Medics, Demolition, Operations and Intelligence and Weapons.

These are some of their stories.

Motto: De Oppresso Liber - To Free the Oppressed

Excerpts From Vol I:

We were some 25 miles up river from the Yellow Sea and under some fire until reaching the ocean. If the Chinese had then intervened with an air force, we would have been in deep kirnchi for certain. I was firing my 105RRs and 30 caL machine guns from the deck house at targets along the river bank as was every one else. After what seemed a very long time we were clear and out to sea. I found out much later that the 187th had gone back to an airfield at P’yongyang two days earlier and had gotten out by air.


Well, on the night of TET (yep, you guessed it) the North broke the truce again and attacked the major cities again, but in much less strength than they had used the prior year. Still it requires only one well placed bullet to kill you. These were not the storied "Viet Cong" the press has made so much of, but were in fact hard core regular troops from North Vietnam, hardened by their long trip down from the North. They were well equipped with small arms, rocket launchers, mortars and rockets. True, they had little or no artillery, no air support at all and no Navy. Just think what they could have done if they had all the weapons our side had. Scary.


All of a sudden all hell broke loose. As we cleared the northern part of the village we had a hundred or so guys in black PJs in front of us (caught in the open). I called "District HQ" to see if they had RF-PF out on any kind of operation. The reply was "NO". These were definitely Bad Guys.


I was 19, and gripped my car-15 like the old friend it had become. I looked down into the green and remembered when it was my favorite color. Soon we crossed over the red of Khe Sahn and then over the mountains on the border where there was often AA. We slipped past that and went on to our primary landing zone. The lead chopper veered off suddenly and we were on to the secondary. The first chopper dropped in with the 1-0; and half the team, me, and the others in the second for a total of eight men: three Americans. This time, we had a new guy along. They were now below us, and we could see tracers coming up at them. I saw the door gunner open up on the landing zone and the tree line.


It was Ban Houie Sai, Laos in May and the temperature was over a hundred ten degrees twenty four hours a day every day. We were on the air strip on the banks of the Mekong River in Northern Laos. The only shade was a piece of tin on four bamboo poles which LTC Kaplan had claimed for his CP.


Project Delta was assigned the job of raiding a North Vietnamese Army Division Headquarters, killing everyone we could find, and capturing all of their electronic equipment intact. The main job was to capture that main bunker and all of their equipment and records. This Headquarters was supposed to be in a large bunker complex on a knoll in the middle of a large valley. The US Air Force was supposed to provide fighter cover for our raid and they were also supposed to bomb the target to soften it up before we attacked. This raid was all based on photo interpretations of aerial photos.


I went into a little village/hamlet along the coast of Hondo one time called San Francisco. We probably pulled close to nearly every tooth in the village (they were rotten as could be from a lifetime of sugar cane and not fluoride; poor hygiene). They didn’t have a pot to piss in, but absolutely insisted on feeding us polo, plantains, etc. Sure didn’t want to eat their chow up, but didn’t want to insult them either. Being the SF guys we were, we whipped put our MRE’s started sharing with everyone (especially the kids), and had a feast.


I was at the Project Delta bar in Nha Trang one night when the guys presented Martha Raye with a medal that they had designed. It had some type of ribbon and on it hung a Full Colonel’s eagle. They called it the first and only presentation of the ‘Maggiebird’. Martha Raye said, "This is the proudest day of my life."

     Several weeks later, I was watching the Academy Awards program. We got it about a month late on AFVN. Bob Hope presented her a special Academy Award. She sniffled a bit and then said, "This is proudest day of my life." Then there was a pause and she added, "Stateside."


Excerpts From Vol II:


We had gone less then a hundred yards from the village when we came to a large bush. It was maybe 15 to 20 feet tall and about twenty feet round. I started around the right side of the bush and had just cleared it when two M-2 Carbines opened up. They were both on full auto and sounded as if they were next to my left ear. In reality they were about 12 feet away on the left side of the bush. As I dropped to one knee and spun to see what was going on I saw a form hit the ground. From the time I heard the first gun shoot and spun around was less then a full second but it seemed to be in slow motion. I got back up and went over to take a look at who had been shot? 



Jay was to my left about 5-7 meters behind another tree, but on his feet. He was carrying an M79 as well as his CAR (Carbine Assault Rifle). We heard the gooks coming down the finger through the elephant grass. Jay stepped out and when he saw the first individual, he let fly with a canister round. It looked like a rotor rooter went through the grass. I fired half a magazine and reloaded. We heard screams and some moaning, and then it got deathly quiet.
We hit the ground shortly after dark and had a long night movement to their HQ. When we got about 300 meters from the HQ the team stopped and got on line. Scot Steel and I gave all our stuff to the other guys and we loaded up our pockets with all the hand grenade simulators we could carry.

As a result of an unofficial request, I was sent out to scrounge some spare “steel inter-locking runway strips” for construction of defense bunkers. On an A-Team in Vietnam, miles from civilization we were rather short on requisition forms. When we were told to go find something for the team, we took that as an order from God to go out, find the stuff, requisition it by any means possible (trade for it) (steal it) and bring it back to camp. The best place to find this landing strip material is where they are building landing strips for aircraft. They built them all over the place.

When I got to Hai Yen in August or September 1965, Herb Spangler was the Senior Medic. He and I amputated a foot off one of the Nungs who had stepped on a bobby trapped 50 cal. round. All the toes were taken off and part of the foot. We tried to get a medevac in, but to no avail. The Group surgeon finally told us (via radio) to do a boot top amputation. 

Excerpts From Vol III:

Rats were important to the Yards (Montagnard) in and around Dak Pek as they were considered a delicacies. 


Preven  and I grabbed onto a small rock that just broke the surface, covered our heads with seaweed, and tried to blend in as best we could. It took an hour before the man finally floated out of sight. Even in the dry suits we had grown dangerously cold.


The jumpmaster was a LLDB sergeant. I’ll never forget the guy because he was relatively tall, skinny, and he had a big brown mole on the side of his face that took up most of his cheek. 


We were in Cochabamba, Bolivia, January 1984, for the purpose of training a Bolivian Airborne Battalion. The drop zone was at an altitude of 8,000 feet above sea level. The jump altitude was another 1,250 feet above ground level. 


My wife back in the States was having a difficult pregnancy with our youngest child, and I flew into Saigon to call home and check on things every so often.


Flying in Vietnam from city to city sucked. You sat in the dirt, sometimes for five or six hours, waiting for a plane to arrive, only to get bumped off at the last minute by someone who outranked you.

By mid-afternoon FAC advised us that the weather was settling and that we needed to get extracted before the ships couldn’t fly. FAC located a small clearing for us and we headed that way simultaneously engaging enemy troops and trying to locate our cowardly “little people.”

Operation Ivory Coast AKA The Son Tay Raid

Available in the Amazon Kindle Store

NOTE: I don’t claim that this document is 100% accurate. I just don’t know. AND I’m not going to defend any of the controversial portions of it. I put it out there as information. Take it or leave it. And DON”T shoot the messenger.

WHAT MAKES THIS DOCUMENT DIFFERENT from any others about “The Raid” that I (NOT being an expert on the history of this operation) have seen so far is:

1) The list of assets
2) One sentence in the last paragraph
3) The included hand written briefer’s notes at the end
4) Lists of four (4) courses of action considered

HISTORY April/May 1991:

We stumbled across this briefing in the back of a secure file cabinet in the US portion of the ROK Special Forces compound’s bunker when I was the J3 for SOC-K. I mailed a complete copy of it to my brother for safe keeping with a post mark of 15 May 1991. If you read the briefing it is VERY important to keep this date in mind as this may be one of the earliest unclassified writings about this operation. (Note that the briefing was written some time prior to 1991). If you can find something documented in open source prior to that date, let me know. NOTE the briefer did not place a classification at the top and bottom of each page. The 20 year hold for declassification would have run out just one year prior to us finding the briefing. At the time, there was little if any details in the public domain about the raid. There was no Internet or World Wide Web to disseminate information like there is today. I arrived at SOC-K in October of 1990, and I can say for sure that the briefing was written prior to that date.

The briefer, who ever he was, had no expectation that this briefing would ever be made available to anyone other than a close circle of ROK and SF Special Forces personnel. Because of the list of assets included in the briefing, I have sat on it for over 20 years. I just couldn’t bring myself to believe what I read and still have serious doubts.

The detail found in this short briefing (1368 words) is incredible and could have been written only by someone who had personal knowledge of the operation. After all, at the time (prior to Oct 1990, the date I arrived at SOC-K) where would the material of this detail have come from other than a highly classified (TS) source? Personal knowledge is just about the only explanation.

In addition to the Assets the briefer lists, in the last paragraph he mentions something that I have never seen anywhere else. Let me know if you catch this single sentence, and if you have ever heard that about the raid.

Notability, the briefer lists an asset something that may have turned out to be a major obstacle to the mission! But the fact that it is even mentioned gives credence to the briefing as it, too, was TS at the time.

At one point I asked SGM Jack Joplin, who was an SFC operator on the raid, about the named Americans listed as assets. He said that he never heard a thing about that, but he was a trigger puller and not in on the higher level planning.

Also, the briefer had hand written notes at the end of the briefing (included). The handwriting is distinctive. I doubt that anyone would recognize whose it is though. If you do, let me know.

Anyway, there are several things in this 1368 word briefing that pique one’s interest. Pass the links to the eBook on if you so desire.
 


Return to the top of this page.

Welcome Visitor #