TBT,, The Ivory Coast Raid & Edgar Britt, (ret CSM)

[JJ_BPK]

A little piece of history..

Edgar is another of the irregulars at our monthly lunch at the Cape.

In November 1970, a joint Special Forces team executed a covert, heavily armored assault into enemy territory.

Code named Ivory Coast, this nighttime raid was mounted to rescue 70 American POW's held at Camp Son Tay in North Vietnam, just 23 miles from Hanoi.

Retired Command Sergeant Major Edgar C. Britt of the Veterans Council of Indian River County was a member of that raid.

He's lived in Sebastian since 1981 and joined the Veterans Council in 2008 representing both the 82nd Airborne Division Space Coast Chapter and the Special Forces Association, Chapter 85.

The Son Tay Raiders, as they're known, were all volunteers. Their mission – to rescue American POW's – was a high priority for the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

An estimated 500 Americans were held captive at the time under brutal conditions, many being tortured.

Britt was a Special Forces, Green Beret A-Team Sergeant with two previous tours of Vietnam, Airborne jump wings, HALO (high altitude low opening) parachute training and UDT/Navy Swimmers badge.

link to story

[Divemaster]

Originally Posted by JJ_BPK

A little piece of history..

Edgar is another of the irregulars at our monthly lunch at the Cape.

Guys like this is why I went SF. My heroes don't wear football or baseball uniforms. They wear the uniform of my country's warriors. They wore it, tattered, at Valley Forge. They wore it at Gettysburg. They wore it at a thousand anonymous battlefields. And they wore it at Son Tay. They wore it for me, and those who came after me.

It seems that sitting down to breakfast with a hero like the CSM, or buying him a drink is too small a tribute, yet it seems even this is something that I am too small to attempt.

Thankfully men like this exist.