Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
SOG. Utterly compelling, gripping and inspiring, 16 Jul 2003
Studies & Observations Group. Seldom has a military unit's title so inadequately described what they actually did. Which was, of course, the point.
I have read many books on the subject of Special Forces & covert ops in Vietnam. This is, without doubt, the best. Still utterly compelling and inspiring, even now on the third read.
What you have to keep reminding yourself, when reading this book, is that it is a true account of a secret war. So brave, heroic, selfless & daring were the deeds carried out by the men of SOG, it is easy to forget that they were real events that happened to real people in real danger.
It's a gripping account of the activities of men, who's job it was to play the most dangerous game of `cat & mouse' imaginable. SOG men volunteered to go into hostile territory in small teams (typically 6 to 8 men), surrounded by thousands of enemy soldiers and bring back vital intelligence which was almost certainly responsible for saving many thousands of American lives. Sometime they did this completely undetected, all too often they had to run and fight for their lives to escape a vastly numerically superior foe intent on their destruction.
John Plaster recounts many recon missions and the battle for survival SOG men faced each time they waged their silent war against the VC and NVA. You can almost feel the fear and adrenaline generated from such dangerous work. Almost. No book could ever truly give you a full understanding of how it felt to do what SOG did, but this book gets closer than any other I've read.
At times this book also made me angry. All too often, deeds of heroism and bravery went unrecognized, due partly to the secret nature of what SOG did but sometimes due to the incompetence of the military. Although several SOG men received The Congressional Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War, it is clear many more should have. That said, the men of SOG didn't fight for medals or for some ideological hatred of communism. They fought and died for each other, their fellow soldiers, their "brothers". The greatest accolade for a SOG man wasn't a medal, (Purple Hearts were often not even requested) it was to be considered to be "good in the woods" by their peers.
During The Vietnam War, SOG suffered a casualty rate of over 100% (every man wounded at least once). The unit had a kill ratio of 150:1 (150 enemy dead for each SOG operator killed). After reading this book you'll understand why they were so effective and you'll be amazed that their casualty rate wasn't higher.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fantastic, but sobering, 10 Jul 2008
firstly, just buy this book and read it you will not be dissapointed.
this book details many missions that the sog went on during the vietnam war, and one thing that gets you almost immediately was the sheer loss of life that these units experienced. the missions they went on were virtual suicide missions. they knew they would have contact with the enemy as soon as they had been inserted,they knew there was a mole in saigon relaying their mission details to hanoi, and they knew they would be persued constantly while they were in cambodia and laos, yet they still went on the missions. this book is gripping, if you can cope with the many deaths described in the book.
excellent read, not glorified or gung ho at all.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it!, 7 Jun 2007
Thought this was going to be full of brief accounts of battles that only served to whet my appetite, but i was wrong, jam packed with 3rd person accounts of some ferocious engagements, and a insight the the darker world of "Black Ops" and psychological warefare - a fascinating read, a book i couldn't put down
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