Sog: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam

by John L. Plaster

Overview

“The most comprehensive examination of widespread covert American actions during the Vietnam War.”—Kirkus Reviews

Code-named the Studies and Observations Group, SOG was the most secret elite U.S. military unit to serve in the Vietnam War—so secret its very existence was denied by the government. Composed entirely of volunteers from such ace fighting units as the Army Green Berets, Air Force Air Commandos, and Navy SEALs, SOG took on the most dangerous covert assignments, in the deadliest and most forbidding theaters of operation.

Major John L. Plaster, three-tour SOG veteran, shares the gripping exploits of these true American warriors. Here is a minute-by-minute, heartbeat-by-heartbeat account of SOG’s stunning operations behind enemy lines—penetrating heavily defended North Vietnamese military facilities, holding off mass enemy attacks, launching daring missions to rescue downed U.S. pilots. From sabotage to espionage to hand-to-hand combat, these are some of the most extraordinary true stories of honor and hero'sm in the history of the U.S. military.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451231185
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/07/2010
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	117,955
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Major John L. Plaster is a national authority on sniping, firearms, and special operations, as well as the author of Secret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines With the Elite Warriors of SOG and SOG: The Secret Wars of America’s Commandos in Vietnam. He served three tours in the top-secret unconventional warfare group, Studies and Observations Group, in Vietnam. As a long-range reconnaissance leader, he led tiny intelligence-gathering teams behind enemy lines in Laos and Cambodia before leaving SOG in late 1971. He was decorated for hero'sm four times and retired from the U.S. Army as a major.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for SOG

“Exciting [and] hair-raising...a detailed history of this little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.”—The New York Times

“Superb and compelling.”—Gen. William C. Westmoreland, U.S. Army (ret.)

“A magnificent book of enormous power and a milestone in the literature of special operations.”—Col. Robert Howard, Medal of Honor winner, the Vietnam War’s most highly decorated soldier

“Authoritative and insightful…a true insider’s account.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“Indispensable.”—Booklist
 
“Engrossing and thoroughly exciting.”—Library Journal

From the Publisher