I think Jocko has done so much for the SOG community by bringing these stories to the general public. Absolutely insane missions! I'd buy Mike beers all night and beg for stories of the missions he and his crazy comrades ran across the fence. God bless all our Vets.
My mother is like a stone. A Vietnam veteran who has inside her all the top secrets ; army intelligence. And she swore to silence because of the top secret nature she swore under. Many like her are aging. The peaces that want ever be applied to the puzzle. Thank you all from the bottom of my soul. Thank you. You all are the whole of Vietnam True professionals
SF all the way but able to say, “I should never have been a 1-0.” Late in the war he saw the decline and compromise of the unit. The lack of training. Very skilled but humble and real!
First thanks to Rob and Sam for having me on to talk about my favorite subject - the important and mostly forgotten/ignored history of the United States Army Special Forces during the Second Indochina War. I feel fortunate, privileged, and honoured to have played my small role. As much as I'd like to be able to write my memoirs, the fact is a very few read them. Podcasts, like this one, preserve living history as we've never been able to do before. And there is nothing better than having that question finally asked, "What'd you do in the war, daddy?" Regarding my 1-1s and 1-2s, I never actually had a "team." My 1-0 "James ???" DEROSed a few days after we were shot off an LZ. I did 2 'Bright Light's with only my Bru. Then Maj. (Ret) Charlie Reed (then SP/5) and ??? Dowdy joined me. I think they were out of Hatchet Force. Not sure who was supposed to go with me on the scrubbed mission. I still had no regular Americans when I was "asked" to run the mission that had been scrubbed. I was told that Cpt. Correll had one in and outsert, and that Cunning had not clicked with two previous teams. Michigan was his last chance. (Note: Some really good soldiers were simply not cut out for SOG, of for SF, for that matter.)
Thank you for your service and sharing your stories. Wow how you tell your stories is great. Shrapnel taking the cord three inches from handset n even closer to your neck. God really watched out for you. I had a goal to jump out of the first airplane I ever went up in. I did.! 15,000 ft accelerated free fall. Whoosh fun stuff
you'd be amazed how many will read it in hard cover, online or get the audio book version. The game gathered around it not only the SOA members but everyone globally that eager for more content of this sort! And ofc thank you for sharing and your service!
Thank you Mike. There are plenty of us that want to hear the stories of the men and women that served our country. Stories like yours help us understand the impact of war on our soldiers and the theater they serve in. You and your brothers are heroes.
I could listen to him for hours. Reminds me of listening to my Pop Pops stories about WW2 as a kid. It’s really important to record these testimonials. And it’s disappointing that he felt like an outcast around the younger vets. If they only knew.
This guy wants to talk? Ill buy a case of whiskey and listen to him for days. I met an aussie vietnam vet at a retirement village where my nan was when i was 12 years old (obsessed with war history) i was so polite but it was like trying to bleed a stone. I got to see some cool photos of a cobra at a farp though.
Those guys who ran SOG missions were OG straight up studs. Just think about having a running firefight for a couple days straight and barely making it back to the LZ with a couple bullets left then connecting yourself to a 150 foot rope hanging off a helicopter for the ride back to camp with green tracer’s flying around you. Then start training for your next mission. Wow
Mike a lor of people want to know your story . You're not well known it because you sign to know tell anything 20 year . Your Era is the best . The veteran from that war are me heroes. Thank you for your service 🙏
Dog were told not to talk about what they did in the war and they didn’t say shit for years I personally and a lot more people think you guys are tru heroes real stand up guys
@@budgibson185 enjoy! Very sad we're not making it this year. I'm planning on 2023 SOAR and I'm sure Mike would be up for it. He had mentioned it not too long ago.
1hr24min20sec Blessed be His holy name. Doing my bit to change Our Lord's name from profanity to blessing, to do justice to the events and the men involved. Godspeed.
The Pretzel FACs were flying O-2 aircraft in support of the SOG teams working out of Quon Loi in CCS (Command and Control South). As the war started to wind down in 1971, we closed our FOL at Quon Loi and most of the Pretzel FACs went to BanMeThout to close out their tours. I was the Pretzel AOL and went to SOG HQ as the ALO for JPRC (Joint Personnel Recovery Center) and planned and flew several POW rescue operations near the end of my tour in late 1971. The Prezel FACs were given a huge responsibility as young USAF pilots and did it extremely well. I would put my life on the line for any one of these fearless FACs.
