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Guys,
38 years ago today one of the most daring of SF missions was history. I was in 12B training at the time of the Son Tay raid and remember when we heard of it. After that, I served with a number of these guys whom I call friends--George Petrie, Ronnie Strahan, Paul Poole, Leroy Carlson, Dave Nickerson.
Richard's $.02 :munchin
Shortly before midnight on November 20, 1970, at Udorn Royal Thailand Air Base in Northern Thailand, 56 US Army Special Forces Troopers (Green Berets) boarded two USAF HH-53s and one HH-3 for a mission deep into enemy territory to rescue 75 or more Americans held by the North Vietnamese authorities. These Americans, mostly aviators of all services, were being held under conditions that can be best described as horrible in all respects -- torture, diet, lack of medical care and devoid of hope for return to freedom in a timely manner.
One hundred sixteen aircraft from seven airbases and three aircraft carriers comprised the total force. The task force was under the command of the author, Brig General LeRoy J. Manor. The weather was clear, all aircraft had been thoroughly checked and were in a-one condition, the "Red Rocket" message had been received from Washington, the troopers and air crew members were suited up and all exposed skin areas were painted and the command post communications had been checked and ready. The Commander declared the mission ready and ordered the launch.
http://www.sontayraider.com/
ZonieDiver
11-21-2008, 10:00
Guys,
38 years ago today one of the most daring of SF missions was history. I was in 12B training at the time of the Son Tay raid and remember when we heard of it. After that, I served with a number of these guys whom I call friends--George Petrie, Ronnie Strahan, Paul Poole, Leroy Carlson, Dave Nickerson.
Richard's $.02 :munchin
Shortly before midnight on November 20, 1970, at Udorn Royal Thailand Air Base in Northern Thailand, 56 US Army Special Forces Troopers (Green Berets) boarded two USAF HH-53s and one HH-3 for a mission deep into enemy territory to rescue 75 or more Americans held by the North Vietnamese authorities. These Americans, mostly aviators of all services, were being held under conditions that can be best described as horrible in all respects -- torture, diet, lack of medical care and devoid of hope for return to freedom in a timely manner.
One hundred sixteen aircraft from seven airbases and three aircraft carriers comprised the total force. The task force was under the command of the author, Brig General LeRoy J. Manor. The weather was clear, all aircraft had been thoroughly checked and were in a-one condition, the "Red Rocket" message had been received from Washington, the troopers and air crew members were suited up and all exposed skin areas were painted and the command post communications had been checked and ready. The Commander declared the mission ready and ordered the launch.
http://www.sontayraider.com/
Great post, Richard. Thanks for the reminder. I was just down the hall from you then - in 11B/C training. It was an amazing time for SF. Little did we know that a massive cutback of SF was looming on the horizon.
The only Raider I ever met personally was SSG Patrick Sinclair from the 6th. He ended up in Training Group after the raid. The planning, preparation, rehearsals were amazing.
Thanks again for the reminder...
The Reaper
11-21-2008, 10:28
Well done Gents.
There are a few Raiders still working at SWCS. Great Americans, one and all.
Thanks for remembering.
TR
greenberetTFS
11-21-2008, 10:48
Terrific post Richard, these warriors are well remembered. The quote from Isaiah 6:8 said it all...........:)
GB TFS :munchin
Great Post! Sadly, today you would be hard pressed to find a high-school aged kid who has even heard of the atrocities committed at that POW prison, and elsewhere throughout SE Asia. More often than not you'll be met with a blank stare and a huh? Thank you to all who have served and made the sacrifice so that we may have the gift of freedom.
Here's the latest by Jerry Hogan, retired SF Officer who writes human interest articles of local residents who served/are serving in the military. His latest is on a Son Tay raider I put him in touch with a couple of weeks ago, George Petrie. Gutes lesen!
Richard's $.02 :munchin
http://www.themilitaryview.com/
Son Tay Raid.."A Thrilling and Spine Tingling Story"
In 1970 the United States was fighting the unpopular war in South Vietnam. Casualties were increasing and more and more young men who had been drafted under the selective service system were being returned home to towns all over America in flag draped caskets. The political rhetoric was mounting and protests in the street were increasing while students on college and university campuses were starting to make their voices heard. Adding to the general dissatisfaction with the war was the treatment and unknown status of over 500 American Prisoners of War (POW’s) who had been captured by the North Vietnamese forces. The families of these men were starting to make their voices heard too and even though negotiations had been going on for over two years with representatives of North Vietnam on this issue of POW’s, no progress had been made.
In August of 1970 the US government started the planning for a bold raid on a North Vietnamese POW prison camp located 23 kilometers west of downtown Hanoi. The US had the names of 70 US prisoners who were being held in this camp called Son Tay and the plan was to fly in with a small raiding force, kill the enemy guards, free the prisoners and then fly them back to a US base.
1st Lieutenant George Petrie, a Special Forces Soldier at that time, who currently lives in Greenville, Texas, was on that raid. This is his story of how it all happened and his personal observations of what he saw and did on that raid.
George was assigned to one of the Special Forces Groups at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in August of 1970 after just returning from his last combat tour in Vietnam. As he said, “we got an announcement one day saying they were looking for volunteers for a special assignment. About 600 of we Special Forces and Ranger guys showed up in the post theater when we were told to be there. An old Airborne/Special Forces full colonel by the name of “Bull” Simons came out on the stage and said ‘we need 100 volunteers to be involved with a special assignment. There will be no TDY pay (travel pay given to Soldiers when they go on a temporary assignment), no per diem pay (an allowance for being away from home base), you will be gone for up to 6 months, there is some risk, and I can’t say anymore.’ About 300 guys came back that afternoon and each person was then interviewed by Simmons, two Sergeant Majors, and Doctor Joe Cataldo. 100 of us were selected and we still were not told anything about what, where, or when.”
The 100 men who were selected were then transported to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, where they were isolated and started their initial selection training. As George says, “we were told ‘don’t ask any questions and keep your mouths shut. While 100 were selected, we only need 56 for the mission and they will be selected as the training progresses.’ The training itself was pretty standard Special Forces stuff; lots of Raids and Ambushes and really a lot of physical training (PT). They also built a mock up of the prison camp and we rehearsed and rehearsed the attack and seizure of the facility. We assumed by this time that we were going into a prison for some purpose, but we still didn’t know where or when. Every day the ‘mock prison’ was disassembled so Soviet Satellites would not detect the activity and then every night we would put it back up so we could rehearse again. All in all we went through at least 30 step-by-step practices of attacking the camp and leaving with the POW’s. In all, over 150 rehearsals were done of the entire operation.
We were organized into three elements; an Assault Platoon made up of three, four man assault teams, a Security Platoon responsible for securing and holding the perimeter of the camp, and a Support Platoon which had the task of stopping any reinforcements along the road. I was in the Assault Platoon and our task was to land in the middle of the camp compound, and then my team was to quickly take out the guard tower and gate guards, and then go to the solitary confinement prisoner cell near the front entrance and release the POW’s in that area. We went over and over these tasks.”
As you would imagine, by this time the “Raiders”, as they were to be known, were certain of the mission, just not where or when. Originally the plan, which was heavily dependent on weather and moon light conditions, called for the raid to occur on October 21. It was briefed to Henry Kissinger and General Alexander Haig in the White House on Oct 8 but because of President Nixon’s unavailability on that day, final approval from the President could not be obtained in time to meet this scheduled date. The next window-of-opportunity was November 21. That date was set and Presidential approval was given to proceed with the plan.
On November 14, 1970, four C-141 airplanes with all of the Raiders aboard departed Eglin Air Force Base for their initial staging area at Takhli, Thailand. Arriving two days later, the men were all ushered into a CIA secured compound to start their final preparations. As George said, “this is the first time we really believed they were going to let us go through with the raid even though we still didn’t know for sure what it was or where it was to be. Now we started worrying they would call it off for some reason.”
On the first day in the compound in Takhli the men rested from their long trip from the States. On the second they broke all of their gear down and did final checks. Their weapons- CAR 15’s, M-60 machine guns, AR-15’s and M-79 grenade launchers- were all test fired and re-zeroed. And this is when they learned the details of the raid. As George said, “Colonel Simons called us all together and told us: ‘we were going to rescue 70 or more POW’s from a camp called Son Tay, if you don’t want to go, let us know now, and if we walk into a trap, there will be no Escape and Evasion on our part. Instead we will back up on the ground and take as many with us as we can.’ The whole force stood up and cheered. We got the approval message from the White House and we were ready to go.”
The next step was to move from Takhli to Udorn Air Force Base also located in Thailand to marry the force up with their helicopters that would be used to make the 3 1/2 hour flight across Laos and into North Vietnam. At this point George was told they had the names of the 70 POW’s that were to be in Son Tay, but unfortunately his cousin, who was a POW, was not on the list.
The plan called for the Assault Platoon members to all ride in an H-3 helicopter that would be landed in the middle of the compound once arriving on site. Because of the small size of this area, it would not be possible for the H-3 to become airborne again after landing so it was to be destroyed on the ground. The remaining personnel would be in 6 CH-53 helicopters. All of the helicopters were to be escorted by C-130 airplanes that would be dropping flares, etc during the assault.
Unfortunately the H-3 helicopter could not maintain the same speed as the other slowest airplane in the attack force. A means had to be found to increase the speed and the range of the Assault Platoons ride. And this is where it really gets hairy and frightening even before the assault site is reached.
A technique was developed and practiced during the rehearsals back at Eglin where the H-3 would “draft” off the C-130. To do this, the C-130 airplane would fly straight and level and the helicopter would tuck under the wing of the larger plane. That is, the body of the helicopter would be under the wing while the rotating blades of the helicopter would be above the wing. In this manner the down-wash of the helicopter blades would strike the wing of the C-130 which would provide an enhanced “ground effect” creating more lift and more speed for the helicopter while conserving fuel. Hard to believe, isn’t it? But, according to George, it worked even though it scared the heck out of a lot of the Raiders.
The final briefing was conducted at Takhli and the selected 56 Raiders boarded C-130 aircraft to take them to Udorn about 10:00pm on November 20. The trip was short and they quickly off-loaded the C-130’s and climbed aboard their assigned helicopters. At 11:18PM, the first helicopter launched and the mission was on its way.
The rest of Jerry Hogan's story of George and the Son Tay Raid. George is the guy on the right in the pic with the red-white-blue ribbon around his neck.
Richard's $.02 :munchin
Here’s what George has to say. “We got on the helicopters still hoping they would not cancel the mission at the last minute. The only really scary thing that happened for the next three and a half hours was when we had to refuel our helicopter. To do this, the pilot had to move out of the “drafting “position we were in on the C-130 wing. We refueled and then the task was to get back into position in the middle of darkness with no lights. If we could not do this, the mission was over. Our pilots were the best and we got right back in position and kept going for Son Tay.
As we approached the prison we were coming down a valley at low level. The C-130’s were dropping flares and napalm bombs but we could see no organized resistance. We did see, however, a truck convoy moving with its lights on headed right down the same road the camp was on. Later we found out it was a truck driving school teaching Vietnamese soldiers how to drive. Funny after it was over, but we thought we were in big trouble.
We headed for the camp and our Security Platoon helicopter carrying Colonel Simmons headed for their area. Unfortunately there was some confusion and the pilot landed at another adjacent group of buildings that looked like the prison camp. As in most battles, everything does not go according to plan. Now the Security Platoon was in the wrong place. But also like many battles, a seeming mistake turned into a big advantage because the compound where the platoon landed was a complex housing a ‘western military group.’ These were big tough looking soldiers that were an organized military force. Over 100 of them were quickly killed or wounded by the Raiders preventing any reinforcements to the prison camp cadre force.
Our helicopter headed for the middle of the prison compound. The plan was to sorta drop the helicopter in making a hard landing because of space limitations. I was in the door with one of my attack team members below me on the floor. The plan was for him to go out the door first and take up his shooting position to cover me as I raced to the front guard tower to throw a grenade in and kill the guards. But when the helicopter was landing it hit a standing pole that we did not know was there. When it did that, the bird torqued to one side and actually threw me out the door. I hit the ground running and inadvertently became the first man on the ground in the Son Tay prison camp raid.
My team and I moved to the front of the camp and destroyed the guard tower and killed about 8 enemy soldiers. We went into the solitary confinement cells but no POW’s were there. By this time the other teams had gone into the other cells and they too found them empty. We had missed the prisoners by 4 months as they had all been moved to another camp in July.
At about the ten minute mark after hitting the ground, we started to leave the camp. Since our helicopter was destroyed in the camp compound, my team left on one of the other CH-53 helicopters. The ride back was the scariest thing I have ever experienced. We had 26 SAM missiles fired at us in North Vietnam. Every anti-aircraft gun in that part of the country seemed to be firing at us. I looked ahead of the helicopter and all I could see was a solid sheet of missiles and tracer rounds in front of us. I don’t know how we got through it without being shot down.
We got back to Thailand along with the rest of the Raider force. We experienced no losses. As you would expect, we were really disappointed and depressed that we could not free any POW’s. We thought we had blown it and had accomplished nothing.”
But as history shows, they were really wrong. As a result of the raid, the North Vietnamese changed their entire approach to our POW’s. Prior to the raid, many scattered small POW camps were in operation. Prisoners were kept isolated from each other and many had not talked with an American for several years. Immediately after the raid, however, because of the fear of another raid, the Vietnamese closed down all of the smaller camps and moved the prisoners in to the Hanoi Hilton prison complex in Hanoi for better security. But for the POW’s, it got them back into a more supportive environment where they were now placed in multi-man cells where they could communicate and help care for each other. It also demonstrated to both our POW’s and the Vietnamese that we were determined to get our POW’s back and would not be content with leaving them in prison cells abandoned and lacking hope.
But as George went on to say, “I was depressed for about three years. We always wondered what could have been done differently to actually pull POW’s out of their camps. Then Ross Perot stepped in and helped heal all of our wounds. He invited, at his expense, all of the Raiders and their families and all of the POW’s who were supposed to be in Son Tay when we conducted the raid, along with their families, to meet in San Francisco and for three days we were treated to the best of that city. We got to meet and talk with all of the POW’s we were trying to free and they got to meet and talk with all of us who went in after them. Thanks to Mr. Perot, we were finally able to put closure on the Son Tay raid.”
Lt Petrie went on to finish 22 years in the service retiring in 1980 in the Dallas area where he went to work for Ross Perot. He later formed his own securities and investigation company in that area. He is now retired and living in Greenville, Texas.
The rest of Jerry Hogan's story of George and the Son Tay Raid. George is the guy on the right in the pic with the red-white-blue ribbon around his neck.
Richard's $.02 :munchin
Thank you Richard,,
Lest we forget...
Thank you for these posts Richard.