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

SOG was the most secret elite U.S. military unit to serve in the war in Vietnam so secret it was “black” meaning its very existence was carefully concealed even denied by the government. Innocuously code-named the Studies and Observations Group SOG contained only volunteers from such units as the Army Green Berets USAF Air Commandos and Navy SEALs and answered directly to the Pentagons Joint Chiefs with some missions requiring approval from the White House. Inside Vietnam only General William Westmoreland and a few senior non-SOG officers were briefed on SOG activities. Now Major John L. Plaster a three-tour SOG veteran vividly recounts the never-before-revealed exploits. SOG took on the most dangerous assignments going behind enemy lines to penetrate North Vietnamese military facilities in Laos and Cambodia and along the heavily defended Ho Chi Minh Trail where only air support and sometimes no support at all was available. As colorful as they were heroic the men of SOG were bound together by their dedication. Though few in number they were awarded ten Medals of Honor and hundreds of Purple Hearts. Their ranks included the wars most highly decorated unit as well as the most highly decorated American soldier. Now their stories among the most extraordinary to come out of the Vietnam War can at at last be told.