Remembering Humbert “Rocky” Versace, MOH, 29 October 1963

Remembering Humbert “Rocky” Versace, MOH, 29 October 1963

Humbert “Rocky” Versace was captured early in the Vietnam War on October 29, 1963, by the Viet Cong and showed his indomitable will by refusing to be indoctrinated by the Communists and resisted fiercely. He so enraged his captors by his insistence on adhering to the code of conduct and protesting their treatment of American […]

Want a successful proxy war? Send the SAS: Part II

Want a successful proxy war? Send the SAS: Part II

This is the second part of the article regarding SAS involvement in proxy operations during the Cold War. You can read Part I here. Historically, the Mahra tribe had lived in a tri-border area that overlays Saudi Arabia, South Yemen, and Dhofar.  After the British withdrew from South Yemen in 1967, and the country went communist, […]

MG Sidney Shachnow, Legend in Special Forces Dies at 83

MG Sidney Shachnow, Legend in Special Forces Dies at 83

The Green Beret community lost a legend this week as Sidney Shachnow, who survived a concentration camp for three years starting when he was just seven years old. He served in a variety of Special Forces units and a few conventional billets and eventually retired as a Major General. He retired in Southern Pines, NC […]

CNN aided Iraq, besmirched Green Berets 20 years ago

CNN aided Iraq, besmirched Green Berets 20 years ago

Twenty years ago on June 7, CNN aired a new a story entitled “Valley of Death,” which twisted one of the most heroic missions during the eight-year war during the Vietnam War into an erroneous story. The claims alleged that 16 Green Berets and 120 indigenous troops on that top-secret mission deep inside Laos had […]

Remembering Ola Lee Mize, Korean War MOH, Vietnam, Special Forces

Remembering Ola Lee Mize, Korean War MOH, Vietnam, Special Forces

Lee Mize as he was known to his friends was awarded the Medal of Honor for incredible valor in the Korean War as an enlisted man, later became an officer and served in Special Forces for three and a half tours in Vietnam before retiring in 1981. Mize was born August 28, 1931 in Albertville, […]

Orange, MA Hosts Armed Forces Weekend Military Expo

Orange, MA Hosts Armed Forces Weekend Military Expo

The small town of Orange, Massachusetts was the scene of a large Armed Forces Expo over the weekend complete with battle reenactments from the Civil War, World War I and World War II. They even had a flyby with a C-47 Skytrain, complete with markings from the D-Day invasion. A few lucky visitors got to […]

Captain Ernest Medina, Commander During My Lai Massacre Dies at 81

Captain Ernest Medina, Commander During My Lai Massacre Dies at 81

When one brings up the Vietnam War, invariably the subject of the My Lai massacre will come to the forefront. And Captain Ernest Medina, the commander of Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry of the 11th Brigade, Americal Division, who conducted the operation was court-martialed for his role in it. Medina was eventually cleared and […]

Vietnam helicopter pilot and crew member memorial unveiled at Arlington

Vietnam helicopter pilot and crew member memorial unveiled at Arlington

A new monument stands in Arlington National Cemetary, VA, that honors the fallen pilots and crew members of helicopters during the Vietnam War. The memorial was dedicated on April 18, 2018, and according to the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) approximately 3,400 were in attendance, including Vietnam veterans and Gold Star families. Air Force Bell UH-1N […]

When a Marine Recon patrol got into a firefight with an American Viet Cong

When a Marine Recon patrol got into a firefight with an American Viet Cong

Corporal Charles House led his Marine Recon patrol through thick undergrowth under the jungle canopy forty feet above. The country was Vietnam and the year was 1968. Team Dublin City had been inserted three days prior, North of Phu Bai to reconnoiter the area for signs of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army troop buildups, […]

The Special Forces Branch is Created April 9, 1987

The Special Forces Branch is Created April 9, 1987

Today’s USSOCOM (United States Special Operations Command) operates in nearly 100 countries a day as Special Operations troops from all of the combined services do their part in defending U.S. interests abroad. Special Operations troops are taking on the lion’s share of the fighting in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan as they are an integral part […]

A brief history of bulletproof vests and armor

A brief history of bulletproof vests and armor

The evolution of the firearm is an interesting one — from the unknown Chinese origins of gunpowder, to the fire lance, and the slow development of handheld tubes that use gunpowder to force a projectile outward and into an enemy target. By the 1300s, what we consider guns today were well along in development, and […]

SOFREP Exclusive: SOG/NVA Meet For First Time

SOFREP Exclusive: SOG/NVA Meet For First Time

The most elite warriors of the secret war during the Vietnam War, Green BeretsGreen BeretsGreen Berets and the North Vietnamese Army’s highly-trained killer teams met in Southeast Asia last week, in a meeting – naturally, cloaked in secrecy, SOFREP has learned. For combatants on both sides of the deadly secret war, this meeting not only […]