Plaster's "Secret Commandos" - Page 2

**Team Sergeant** · 05-06-2004, 10:12

Quote:

Originally posted by rubberneck

I do have a question about Col Howard. There is a picture of him attending the dedication of the Vietnam Memorial. In the picture he is wearing a Ranger and an Airborn tab but no Special Forces tab. I was wondering why?

Roger, the "SF Tab" was not authorized for wear until 1984 I think...

rubberneck · 05-06-2004, 10:54

thanks.

Air.177 · 05-06-2004, 11:13

Quote:

Originally posted by Roguish Lawyer
Not with nuoc mam, I hope . . .

Don't Knock it till you try it

**Eagle5US** · 05-06-2004, 11:49

Those pages gave me shivers...real shivers...

Eagle

QRQ 30 · 05-06-2004, 17:25

I bought Plasterâ€™s book hoping to see if Iâ€™m famous. Nope! However he did mention my team ST Delaware. It was refreshing to see that some recognized the fact that NY, TX and AZ werenâ€™t the only teams in SOG. Iâ€™m trying to nail down the time frame. I recognize many names from when he arrived at FOB-2. Howard, Pinn, Zabitowski, Silva and De Lima. It must have been while I was at FOB-3. Pinn wasnâ€™t the recon SGM yet. He was slated for the job and went on an operation and took one in the ass. He later returned to take the job â€“ hard as nails. I was glad to see Barnes mentioned since he was probably the only active member of the Recon Co. that was bigger than me although I was taller. He mentioned Cobras and the first Cobras arrived IIRC in April. As for Silva and De Lima I donâ€™t know when they took Deleware. I donâ€™t know who Martin took over from but I took over from Martin and Williams took the team when I went to Khe Sahn. Iâ€™m guessing Plaster came somewhere around Apr â€“ Dec 1968. There also was no 1-0 school when I arrived in country, IIRC.

What little I read was very accurate. The Club was indeed one of the best classrooms I have been in. We always sat around and discussed tactics, past and future. I donâ€™t know who the commo man was he talked about. Most of us escaped from the TOC for some action. Another reason was that we had the tightest clique you ever saw. If you werenâ€™t recon you werenâ€™t shit.

My eyes and attention span are equally FU but I intend to read the entire book.

Terry Dahling
http://www.sfcommo.com

**Ambush Master** · 05-06-2004, 20:29

Quote:

Originally posted by Eagle5US
Those pages gave me shivers...real shivers...

Eagle

I have trouble reading the "Authors Note" aloud. John did good tugging on the old memory strings with this one.

Read through ALL of the AAR that I posted in the Briefback area, and you will see the parallel with this work. We all wrote those in separate rooms. When you read it, you would think that we were sitting around a table comparing notes, we wern't. A somewhat comical note now, the students, myself and JOSEPH B. H, wrote the longest reports !! We were in an extremely intense training environment and did as we had been taught.

Later
Martin

**Roguish Lawyer** · 05-06-2004, 23:27

I think my favorite story in SOG is when he's hiding in the tree above a large NVA contingent, pissing on his clothes to make sure nothing drips down on them to alert them to his presence.

That, and when he's in China looking in the back of a truck in a convoy to see if the weapons are Russian or Chinese. Holy f'ing shit!

Note that it's been a while since I read SOG, but this is what I remember the most.

**Roguish Lawyer** · 05-10-2004, 08:36

Quote:

Originally posted by QRQ 30
I bought Plasterâ€™s book hoping to see if Iâ€™m famous. Nope! However he did mention my team ST Delaware. It was refreshing to see that some recognized the fact that NY, TX and AZ werenâ€™t the only teams in SOG. Iâ€™m trying to nail down the time frame. I recognize many names from when he arrived at FOB-2. Howard, Pinn, Zabitowski, Silva and De Lima. It must have been while I was at FOB-3. Pinn wasnâ€™t the recon SGM yet. He was slated for the job and went on an operation and took one in the ass. He later returned to take the job â€“ hard as nails. I was glad to see Barnes mentioned since he was probably the only active member of the Recon Co. that was bigger than me although I was taller. He mentioned Cobras and the first Cobras arrived IIRC in April. As for Silva and De Lima I donâ€™t know when they took Deleware. I donâ€™t know who Martin took over from but I took over from Martin and Williams took the team when I went to Khe Sahn. Iâ€™m guessing Plaster came somewhere around Apr â€“ Dec 1968. There also was no 1-0 school when I arrived in country, IIRC.

What little I read was very accurate. The Club was indeed one of the best classrooms I have been in. We always sat around and discussed tactics, past and future. I donâ€™t know who the commo man was he talked about. Most of us escaped from the TOC for some action. Another reason was that we had the tightest clique you ever saw. If you werenâ€™t recon you werenâ€™t shit.

My eyes and attention span are equally FU but I intend to read the entire book.

Terry Dahling
http://www.sfcommo.com

I think I've said this before, but people interested in the history of Viet Nam definitely should check out Terry's site. Lots and lots of pictures and good stories. Be sure to browse the guestbook too, as there are links to some interesting sites in there. One, for example, is www.macvsog.org.

On my way to NY today, so I'll be able to start the book. Have some work to do on the plane, but hopefully will have enough time to make a nice dent.

Air.177 · 05-10-2004, 09:22

I just finished reading it. I like it best out of the SOG series. It is less Objective and tells Plaster's own stories while still telling those of others.

**Ambush Master** · 05-11-2004, 18:21

My old Zippo from those days. Side #1 can be taken Two Ways.

**Ambush Master** · 05-11-2004, 18:25

Side #2 can ONLY be taken one way, and they would have carried it for days before they found someone to interpret it. As superstitious as they were, they would have felt Cursed From The Grave !!

**Roguish Lawyer** · 05-11-2004, 18:34

Quote:

Originally posted by Ambush Master
Side #2 can ONLY be taken one way, and they would have carried it for days before they found someone to interpret it. As superstitious as they were, they would have felt Cursed From The Grave !!

Nous Defions! Great stuff. Plaster mentions another guy who had something similar as if were unique to him. Obviously not!

**Bill Harsey** · 05-24-2004, 08:27

Ambush Master, Thank you for directing my attention here. Book will be ordered today. Bill

**Roguish Lawyer** · 05-24-2004, 08:46

I just finished it. It is Major Plaster's autobiographical account of his time in SOG, with many stories he heard from others included as well. I think the book does as good a job as one could hope in allowing the reader to experience what it was like to be on an SOG recon team. Most of the book recounts recon mission stories, with the rest focused on time between missions.

I don't want to spoil the book by saying much further, but I do recommend it very highly to anyone interested in Special Forces or the history of the Viet Nam war.

CPTAUSRET · 05-24-2004, 09:41

QRQ 30:

Terry just checked out your site, nice.

Terry