Cambodia

When you mention the .30 Carbine cartridge in any conversation about firearms it quickly goes one of two distinct ways. The first is stories about it being a fun to shoot lightweight rifle, the second is the tales of being underpowered and not a caliber that can stop a man. A point that can be […]

Cambodia’s detained opposition leader, who is accused of treason by the government of strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen, denied the charges against him on Monday in his first comments since his arrest last month. Kem Sokha, head of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) is accused of trying to overthrow the government with help […]

President Donald J. Trump will award Vietnam-era Green Beret medic Gary Mike Rose the Medal of Honor on Oct. 23 at the White House for valor stemming from a historic, top-secret mission in Laos during the secret war dubbed Operation Tailwind, the White House announced today. 47 years ago, on September 14, 1970, 16 Green […]

One clear day in May 1968, Green Berets Glen O. Lane and Robert Owen, boarded a South Vietnamese Air Force H-34 helicopter along with four South Vietnamese team members and flew west from the top secret MACV-SOG FOB 1 base in Phu Bai near the China Sea, into a target in Laos where communist forces […]

The DoD will announce the name of a new director for the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency (DPAA) Tuesday after 16 months of inaction through two administrations and some in-house machinations, SOFREP has learned. Today, there are 1,603 Americans still listed as missing in Southeast Asia (SEA) from the Vietnam War, including […]

During the war in Vietnam, the US Army Special Forces were headquartered in Nha Trang. During this time, the Special Forces troops had a close liaison with the CIA and the two organizations worked closely on many intelligence and special operations missions. Their most successful covert intelligence unit “Project GAMMA”, had its mission effectively shut […]

Two Green Beret associations are frustrated that only one veteran listed as missing from the Vietnam War has been publicly announced as accounted for since June 9. They expressed bitter disappointment that a new director hasn’t been appointed to the DoD’s Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency (DPAA) since the sudden departure of […]

This guest post is an excerpt from “Across the Fence” by John Stryker Meyer. Christmas Day 1968 was just another day for Spike Team Idaho. Early that morning ST Idaho was loaded onto Kingbees and flown to the Quang Tri launch site. The early morning rush came to a halt at Quang Tri, as there […]

The Defense Department is close to naming the second director of the recently formed Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency (DPAA), SOFREP has learned. In recent weeks, reliable sources have indicated that the field of candidates has been narrowed down to three people. The wheels of change that lead to the formation of DPAA began […]

Sidney Schanberg, who died in July, was an award-winning journalist who covered the Vietnam War and genocides in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) and Cambodia. Perhaps more than any other reporter, Schanberg made Western publics aware of the terrible suffering the people of Cambodia endured under the 3½-year reign of the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979). Disregarding the wishes […]

The jacket always was worn tucked in to reduce noise while he moved through the countryside. Pockets were moved up from the lower jacket or pants to the shoulders. The camouflage was created by using black spray paint on the clothing. In addition, an “A+” was painted on the fatigue jacket to indicate his blood type should he be wounded.

We had minimal intel on enemy activities on the ground in the target area, we knew the enemy was gearing up to attack our recon teams to keep us out of Laos. Remember, in March 1968, the U.S. could have no conventional military troops in Laos, hence the secret war. We carried no identification papers or dog tags.