Secret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG

John Plaster’s intro to SOG Recon was being bumped from his first mission at the last minute by his team leader, who chose to take a friend instead. The next day Plaster learned his squad-sized team had perished, attributed to an NVA anti-recon (hunter/killer) team and a trail left too easy to follow. His unit’s highly classified missions inside Laos and Cambodia targeted the “Ho Chi Minh'' trail, enemy concentrations and munitions caches, as well as rescuing aircrews and other operations. Well cloaked from the air, boots on the ground were necessary to gather strategic intel and to identify targets of opportunity for aerial attack or raids by platoon- to company-sized SOG “Hatchet” teams.The subject matter itself is intriguing, but this book stands apart for other reasons. Plaster is an authority on the subject with three tours of duty, and the writing and editing is top notch. The material is smartly organized and the narrative crafted for easy reading and relatively concise, providing what readers most want to know, with the right amount of detail. The author also knows just where and how to introduce and expound on people, tactics, equipment, past events, etc. while keeping the story moving. And the immersive writing gives life to individuals, their environment, and events in a way that readers feel witness to.The book is not simply a memoir or reminiscences of one’s Vietnam War experience. Plaster incorporates the inputs and experiences of other SOG members and supporting USA/USAF aircrews. He goes to lengths to identify them by name and describe them, adding authenticity while at the same time honoring these largely unknown heroes, whose covert stories of valor and sacrifice were suppressed for decades. As an avid reader of war books, I’m sensitive to pitfalls that sometimes (if not more often) accompany this genre, e.g., adlibbing, the manufacturing of suspense, terror, shock, etc., and other embellishments designed to generate reader interest and emotions. I found this book largely avoids them (and doesn’t need them). And while higher ups (particularly intel officers) get their fair share of criticism, Plaster is not afraid to describe mistakes made by team members, including himself. These are indicators of a book written with a high level of integrity in mind.Along with reliving the harrowing missions and other unique experiences of SOG Recon, insights are provided on the ever-evolving tactics, techniques, and technologies of the opposing forces to gain the upper hand. Plaster also describes how he and others innovated and improvised on their own, and incorporated lessons learned to increase their odds of success—and coming back alive and whole. But their stories show the odds were still stacked against them. Despite their training, preparation, acquired knowledge, and latest gadgets in their tool box—one mistake and a host of other things beyond their control could end in disaster. What SOG Recon required of them—going alone into the Dragon’s lair (repeatedly)—almost anyone else would consider “crazy” or “suicidal.”If the enemy ruled the night in Nam, they ruled both night and day across the border. As testament to the criticality NV placed on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and their staging areas, and the threat posed to them by SOG—they applied extensive resources specifically to detect and neutralize these small bands of force multipliers. They also placed bounties on SOG Recon heads in the field and sent large, highly trained “sapper” teams to kill them back at their home bases in Nam, along with snipers and ambushes targeting them along nearby roadways.There were no reinforcements to aid teams in the field. A single Recon team (designated “Bright Light”) remained on standby primarily to search for missing Recon members and recover their dead, recover or destroy sensitive items, and rescue aircrews shot down. There were also no fire support bases to call on, and they were without air support during darkness and when socked in by bad weather. In Cambodia, no fixed wing support was allowed. And with multiple teams in the field at any one time, they shared one FAC (“covey”) and the supporting slicks and gunships, which sometimes meant critical delays when the aircraft were actively supporting another team, or replenishing expended fuel and ammo. Finally, while Indigenous team members played a crucial role and most did so honorably, some abandoned their American counterparts when things got hot, or tried to give their positions away to the enemy.Inevitably, the marked increase in resources by the NVA and lessons learned along with captured SOG Recon equipment, code books and maps, and likely some team members made it increasingly difficult for teams to insert undetected, and to evade and escape. Consequently, an increasing number of missions ended before they began, quickly turning into a fight for survival.It becomes apparent while reading this book that SOG Recon members required an uncommon skill and mind set to succeed and survive. It was not a job for the overconfident, impatient, or for those who lacked attention to detail or a cool head when the situation became hot or dire. It also was not a job for those without a high tolerance level for physical pain, exhaustion, and discomfort, or for those who could not (or could no longer) effectively manage the high mental stresses associated with anxiety, lack of sleep, fear, horror, anguish, and guilt. No real American will come away from this book without a profound sense of awe and pride for these men who were truly elite warriors—arguably America’s best...

Absolutely the best book to cover combat operations in the Vietnam War. Hand salute to Plaster and his SOG brotherhood.

American hero

A interesting book about a era that isn't in the news much anymore.

This is a very interesting book. I had started reading Mr. Plaster's book, "SOG" but found it much less interesting. Often non-fiction puts me to sleep but not "Secret Commandos...". I would not have stumbled across the subject had I not purchased a modern version of the MACV-SOG knife recently and did some reading about the origins of the knife. Although I was a young man during the Vietnam war, I had never heard of the Special Forces clandestine operations in Laos and Cambodia. This book informs the reader pretty thouroughly of a brave dedicated group of Special Forces and their role in U.S. efforts to control the flow of North Vietnamese soldiers and supplies from the North and through these two countries into South Vietnam. The stories of these reconnaissance missions assigned to small teams of Special Forces volunteers along with paid South Vietnamese and other indigenous men into Laos and Cambodia are very detailed and often tense to read about. The only thing the reader knows of the outcomes is that the author survives to write this book. It took incredible guts to do what they did and to go back time and again to stare at death up close and be able to think, fight and run or even harder, to know when to hide and wait. Plaster has all the details of not only his missions and his team's but of many other missions carried out successfully and disastrously by other teams lead by his fellow Special Forces "commandos". These are stories of heroism and heartbreak, tension and terror, preparation, anticipation and battle. Plaster has the names and the roles these men played during his horrifying time of not knowing whether he or his friends would come back from these incursions into places they weren't supposed to be. These were top secret operations. No one knew what these men were up to except the top echelon in South Vietnam and the Defense Department. They carried no ID and no uniforms or gear that could identify them as U.S. troops. The story of how they did this, what they did, the battles they had with North Vietnamese soldiers and the closed society of this small band of dedicated soldiers is fascinating, horrifying and remarkable. I'm glad this story is out for us to read. It informs us of the hardships and battles our men in uniform endured in service of those of us who went on with our daily lives as if all were well in the world. I don't ask ask if these men should have been there, I only know they were.

As a follow-up to SOG, this book doesn't disappoint. Written in more personal terms, Secret Commandos covers John L Plasters time as a Green Beret operating in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The colourful characters he met and served with are brought vividly to life - as are some of the quite bizarre rituals practised by SOG operatives in their down time. I enjoyed every page of this book. As with SOG, it left me with the deepest respect for Plaster and his comrades. In a world where the adjective 'hero' is in common use, it's refreshing to be reminded of real heros involved in truly heroic acts.Thoroughly recommended to anyone interested in the Vietnam conflict and the theatre of war in general.

Another excellent book by John Plaster about MACV SOG operations behind the lines in Laos, Cambodia & N.Vietnam

Read it !

Respect - anyone who can see that sorta danger and go back in repeatedly is hardcore

If you really want to know what it was like to serve with the STUDIES AND OBSERVATION GROUP behind enemy lines then by this book. It is a must have book for anyone interested in SOG.Highly Reccomended