FROM THOSE WHO WERE THERE
"The best military history is written by those who were there — those who humped a rucksack and stood shoulder to shoulder in the mud and the blood…John ‘Tilt’ Meyer and John E. Peters are two such authors — they were Special Forces.” 
Jim Donahue Special Forces Combat Veteran Former Marine, Highly Decorated in the Vietnam War.
He is the author of Mobile Guerrilla Force, Blackjack-33, and Blackjack-34. 

A Notable Quote: Black Ops told with the terrifying clarity that only one who was there can tell it.
W.E.B. Griffin & William E. Butterworth IV

 
SOG’S SECRET WAR: 1964-1972

The most secret unit of the Vietnam War, the Studies and Observation Group, formally began American-led operations against the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the Fall of 1964. Many of legendary Colonel Bull Simon’s men had actually been involved in secret operations against the Communists since before 1961, when the genesis of the Vietnam War is officially recorded. The Green Berets who fought as part of SOG’s OP 35, the Ground Studies Group, were the bravest men to ever wear the uniform.

The unit experienced an incredible casualty rate of exceeding 100 percent - meaning that at one time or another, every man serving in that unit was wounded at least once, with some having as many as eight Purple Heart medals. The heroic struggles of these men, both against a cruel and often inhuman enemy, and sadly, against an all too-often uncaring leadership, are herein documented for posterity. The veil of secrecy surrounding SOG and the war fought "across the fence" which was kept from the American public was formally lifted in April of 2001 at a quiet ceremony held at Ft. Bragg, N.C. when the unit was honored with the Presidential Unit Citation, America’s highest unit decoration.

In On The Ground: The Secret War in Vietnam, authors John S. Meyer and John Peters write of the life and death struggles of young men in the green hell of Laotian, Cambodian, North and South Vietnamese jungles and history demands that their stories be recorded. The protected need to know.

Ray Calafell   Vietnam Combat Veteran
Secretary Special Forces Association Chap. LX