MacV Sog

[CJ]

Declassification of special forces operations in Vietnam have allowed the public to hear about bravery that is seemingly beyond human limits. When I hear these hair raising stories my own troubles seem miniscule.

This guy Tilt Meyers had a NVA soldier crawl up on him at night in the jungle and touch his boot. He couldn't shoot him or he would give away his position.

There are a ton of similar stories from these guys on youtube, I think I have listened to about 90 percent of them.

https://www.youtube.com/live/O4lkRzVCNrY?si=1ONelYSfQV-PZInq

 

[cyrano]

Ah, that's what triggered Youtube. A recent release?

I only know about the one in 2004.

 

[AnalogPackrat]

Declassification of special forces operations in Vietnam have allowed the public to hear about bravery that is seemingly beyond human limits. When I hear these hair raising stories my own troubles seem miniscule.

This guy Tilt Meyers had a NVA soldier crawl up on him at night in the jungle and touch his boot. He couldn't shoot him or he would give away his position.

There are a ton of similar stories from these guys on youtube, I think I have listened to about 90 percent of them.

https://www.youtube.com/live/O4lkRzVCNrY?si=1ONelYSfQV-PZInq

I've watched several of those interviews as well as ones from WWII, Korea, and more recent wars. I read a lot. Most people have no clue what some of these veterans endured. Check out some of the LRRP guys. Crazy stuff.

 

[CJ]

This guy is a real character


https://www.youtube.com/live/jQyv6x_brHw?si=qMIWG1cSU0wDwVXr

 

[JohnRoberts]

I've watched several of those interviews as well as ones from WWII, Korea, and more recent wars. I read a lot. Most people have no clue what some of these veterans endured. Check out some of the LRRP guys. Crazy stuff.

I met a LRRP (long range reconnaissance patrol) when I was stationed at FT Riley, KS in the early 70s. It was not unusual for soldiers rotating back after spending one year in Nam, to spend a few months in country to finish up their enlistment (or conscription), before they could return to civilian life. He shared some pretty wild stories.

JR

 

[CJ]

Pat Watkins was a natural for special forces

 

[CJ]

Long Range Recon Patrol, lots of good stuff here>

3 hookers, for 3 days, only 700 dollars before ship out,

 

[Rusan]

I've watched several of those interviews as well as ones from WWII, Korea, and more recent wars. I read a lot. Most people have no clue what some of these veterans endured. Check out some of the LRRP guys. Crazy stuff.

I know a guy who was a Marine Corps infantry squad leader in Vietnam. His recount was disturbing to say the least, and included some unbelievably harrowing and tragic stuff. There were of course stories about death and the hellish atrocities of war, but also some quite humorous as well as fascinating ones. My favorite was about the mission he led infiltrating a tunnel network, that culminated in the capture of several dozen Viet Cong and some NVA regulars, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star with "V" device.

He also received a Purple Heart for when he took shrapnel during a mortar attack, but said it meant nothing to him because, "I didn't deserve a Purple Heart for just some stitches and a concussion. I saw plenty of guys every day who did."

Needless to say, I have ultimate respect for this guy, and am very proud to call him my friend.

 

[CJ]

The LRRP guy in the video above thought that he was being surrounded in the middle of the night by the NVA so he called in an airstrike.

They went out the next morning to access the damage but all they found was red fir. Turns out the army spent 500,000 to destroy a herd of orangutans.

 

[Rusan]

The LRRP guy in the video above thought that he was being surrounded in the middle of the night by the NVA so he called in an airstrike.

They went out the next morning to access the damage but all they found was red fir. Turns out the army spent 500,000 to destroy a herd of orangutans.

The guy I mentioned in my above post had a brother who was also in Vietnam, in the Army. He told about a new guy who got put on nighttime watch, and was told, "Whatever you do, DO NOT fall asleep, because just last week a guy fell asleep and the VC snuck up and cut his throat." Which, of course, was a total lie just to scare the poor kid...

During the night, he heard something moving through the jungle and coming closer, and opened up with his M60. It was too dangerous to send scouts out until daylight, and when they did, they found dead gibbons everywhere.

That's when he was given the nickname he was called by from then on: Monkey Man.

 

[CJ]

Those Montagnard troops really know their stuff. They could hear,see and smell stuff the US troops could not.

There is a story about one spotting a bamboo viper snake wrapped around a bamboo stalk at about eye level. The montagnard kept about a foot beyond striking range while the rest of the soldiers went around him. He did not kill it but left it for any unfortunate trackers.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Those Montagnard troops really know their stuff. They could hear,see and smell stuff the US troops could not.

There is a story about one spotting a bamboo viper snake wrapped around a bamboo stalk at about eye level. The montagnard kept about a foot beyond striking range while the rest of the soldiers went around him. He did not kill it but left it for any unfortunate trackers.

In the late 60s at MITIL I worked with an engineer who had been a green beret fighting over in Viet Nam. He didn't share many stories but IIRC the Montagnards were indigenous mountain people who helped the US soldiers.

He suffered from a chronic case of malaria. We used to play handball at lunchtime in MIT's squash courts, he sweated more than normal.

JR

 

[CJ]

The US was supposed to help the Yards for all the work they did for us but they were left behind to get slaughtered by the NVA after the fall of Saigon.


The CIA were doing covert ops in Cambodia before the special forces took over. On one mission they met up with a small team of SF's over in Cambodia. The NVA were floating 50 gallon drums of fuel down the river to a fuel dump. The CIA folks supplied a plug equipped with a timed explosive that the SF,s inserted into one of the drums. As the SF's were being choppered out of the jungle a day later, they heard a huge explosion that rocked the chopper with a shock wave.