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Originally Posted by lksteve
i find that choice of designation...interesting...
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All I could find on western (PACOM) detachments were:
On April 1, 1956 16 SF troopers formed the 14th Special Forces Operational Detachment (SFOD). They deployed to VN to train VN Special Forces. The first American soldier killed in VN was a Captain from that detachment and he was killed in October 1956.
Other independant detachments followed, the 12th, 13th and 16th. These three were combined to form the 8231st Army Special Operations Detachment. On june 17, 1957 the 14th SFOD joined the 8231st ASFOD and formed the 1st SFG(A).
That was all the numbered independant detachments I could find. No combination equals 39th.
Geographical ref. maybe?
Edit Info (more info)
Captain Harry G Cramer from the 14th SFOD became the first American soldier killed in VN on October 21, 1956.
Korean War - United Nations Partisan Forces - Korea (UNPF-K) conducted behind the lines operations. They were called "donkeys" by the Americans who worked with them after the Korean word for freedom Dong-il. By the end of the war they numbered up to 22,000 and claimed up 69,000 of the enemy KIA.