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Old 10-10-2004, 19:02   #13
MAB32
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This is taken out of a book that I own. It is an exerpt from one of the chapters dealing with the intel gathering before the Son Tay Raid. I won't mention any names other than those who are deceased in order to avoid any "problems" with those that are still living and may want to stay nameless. This also might be one of those situations wereby I may need to keep my mouth shut and "move on." Please let me know QP's a.s.a.p. as to whether I can ask questions regarding this raid or cease-and-desist.


"According to (?) , a veteran Green Beret who was in Vietnam during the Son Tay raid, his project was going to infiltrate an "Earth Angel" team into the Son Tay area seventy-two hours before Simon's scheduled launch date. Earth Angels were Vietnamese who dressed in enemy uniforms and conducted intelligence gathering missions well behind the lines. Most often they were infiltrated by free-fall parachute or HALO. On this occasion the mission was cancelled the very night the Earth Angel team was to jump into North Vietnam. (?) says no reason was given, but he was told later that the rescue attempt overrode the Earth Angel tasking.

According to (?) , former One-Zero for RT (?), the Vietnamese Earth Angel mission was scrapped in favor of an American-led special reconnaissance mission into Son Tay during the same period. Relying on three volunteer CCN One-Zeros, two North Vietnamese Kit Carson Scouts from the Son Tay area employed by CCN, and at least one CIA operative, the hastily recruited team launched from SOG's Heavy Hook mission site located in Thailand.

As Heavy Hook's rotary aircraft were so heavily armored that their range of operations was limited, the team was "loaned" one of Simon's reserve helicopters then positioned at his project's launch site, located deeper inland tahn Heavy Hook, which was on the border of its host country and Vietnam. Refueling at a CIA mission support site inside northern Laos (Longcheng), the chopper successfully infiltrated into North Vietnam using one of the oft traveled air lanes relied upon by CCN's RT's for several years. Landing several kilometers away from Son Tay, the team moved by foot to a position where it could conduct a careful reconnaissance of the entire area, to include the supposed prison site and the secondary school.

According to (?)-- one of the three One-Zeros on this mission was Sergeant Dale Dehnke who led the recon team into Son Tay. The men, guided by their North Vietnamese scouts, were able to confirm specific bits of information about the immediate area and, to a ceratin degree, who was present. For example, it was during this mission taht the Chinese cadre was verified as occupying the secondary school, and that they stacked their weapons in the school's inner yard at night. Knowing the defenders were essentially unarmed proved invaluable to Bull Simons when he elected to order his misplaced team to assault the compound.

As it was impossible to see through the Son Tay prison's walls, the recon element was unable to state whether or not American POWs were still being held there. But, they were able to confirm the presence of North Vietnamese troops (guards?) inside the compound, lending credence to the possibility that such prisoners might have still been under watch. Exfiltrating at night, the CCN team "abducted" a baby water buffalo from the nearby rice paddy where its borrowed helicopter was waiting. The animal was taken off the aircraft at Heavy Hook, back in Thailand, and made the project's mascot thereafter. It was this water buffalo which involked the wrath of Henry Kissinger when it was "rumored" such an event had occured during the actual conduct of the Son Tay raid, and buffalo dung was discovered inside one of the helicopters assigned to Simon's air fleet.

The story goes on further by stating that Dale Dehnke was killed in action on May 18, 1971, while operating in the Da Krong Valley, inside Vietnam. He was supposedly killed by an NVA "Headhunter Battalion" trained by the same Chinese stationed at the school(?). He also states that (?) knew both Dehnke and (?) during his tours in Vietnam, "If there was a recon mission run prior to Son Tay then people like (?) and Dick Meadows would know about it." The author of the book then states that attempts on his part to speak with both of these men were met with silence, although former One-Zero (?)--a personal friend of Dick Meadows--did recall several post-raid discussions with Meadows which strongly indicated far more was known about the events leading up to the assault of Son Tay than was ever published before. He further states that the third One-Zero on this mission is now living in (state) and said to be suffering from severe personal problems due to his wartime experiences.
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