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Summary: SECRET COMMANDOS / Another great book
Review: Another great book by John Plaster. Thanks for surviving to tell the stories of the true warriors of SOG. America is fortunate that it can still find such high caliber men to take on these very dangerous missions.
There were many times while flying as a Covey FAC (Forward Air
Controller)in support of these SOG teams on the ground, that I felt like I was supporting "Gen.Custer at the Little Big Horn". They would have more "Injuns" (NVA) after them than you could count.
To John Plaster and all the SOG warriors, thank you for your service to our country, we are all in your debt. Don Fulton aka "Covey 538" / 1968-69
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Summary: U.S. Army Special Forces and SOG Recon men; this is REAL!
Review: As a 22 month veteran of SOG recon teams (11 months at CCS and 11 at CCC) plus going through Special Forces Training Group (Weapons Course) a few months after the author ( Summer- 1968), I can HONESTLY and OBJECTIVELY state that John Plaster has indeed captured the experiences of Special Forces/SOG men in training and at war!
A few follow-up comments: I am a Charter Member of the Special Operations Association and since SOA's creation in 1977, I have served and/or associated with most of our living SOG veterans and to a man, they will concur with my above statement because this book is REAL!
Those that did less in the Vietnam War and by choice, may disagree but who really cares ? Those of us who are REAL SOG vets sure don't and neither should you! Again, a RIVETING and HONEST account of SOG men at war!
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Summary: Secret Commandos : Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warrior
Review: By the time I was out of high school the Vietnam War was over and at the time, being a snot-nosed teenager, I considered myself lucky not having had the chance to go. After reading this book I understand the extreme danger these BRAVE men were exposed to and how they served the USA with honor. I could not put the book down trying to imagine myself in their place, which was hard to do with my kushy, easy-road-to-hoe life (and I have a vivid imagination). Whether you served your country or not - this is a must read!
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Summary: An unscrupulous reviewer
Review: I am John Plaster, the author of, "Secret Commandos," which has been falsely attacked by someone who hasn't got the guts to sign his review. Readers should know that every account in my book is 100% true, thoroughly researched and honestly told. Not one account is a "Bar room story," but an accurate, factual story of some extremely brave men. These incidents are backed up by multiple witnesses, eyewitness reports and award citations. I took 3-1/2 years to "get it right," and I did.
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Summary: Plaster is the REAL DEAL
Review: I have not read many VN books because it is so bitter a subject for me but this one gave me hope. Hope, because it shows a vallant group of men cut from the same clothe as George Patton and Audy Murphy and Lt. Luke (WWI). Men of great courage and unwaivering honor. I loved this book and I suggest that you read it too. I'd send you mine but I'm gonna read it again. Sorry.
The American Army did NOT lose the Viet Nam War it was the spinless politicians and the Communist front in our college campuses. Makes me sick but this book made me well.
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Summary: Excellent account of Vietnam experiences!
Review: I ordered this book for myself, in order to gain a better understanding of the Vietnam war and the soldiers who served there. The book is extremely informative and written in such a way that it captures the reader's attention and holds him/her spellbound until the last page. My husband was a member of SOG and he verified that the information and stories offered by John Plaster are accurate, and portray the experiences of the SOG teams very well.
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Summary: A Great Read
Review: I'm 39 years old and would obviously have no first hand knowledge of how accurate this book is. But I can say that it, along with Plaster's first book, was a great read. I count among my friends a gunner who served with the Ghost Riders, a gunner who served multiple tours with the 101st. ABD and the Comancheros, and a guy who was a gunner with the 16th. SOS that flew out of Udom Thailand, and who was a member of the first AC-130 Spectre gunship crew in Vietnam (or more correctly, Thailand). The information I've received from these guys certainly meshes with what Plaster writes about, and what SOG did in general. Thanks Plasticman and friends for your service, and John Plaster for a great book. Although.....I did find the Monkey to the Moon story a little hard to believe...but if you say it happend that way, I'll take your word for it....[...]
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Summary: A "Covey" FAC pilot who flew with John.
Review: John Plaster and I flew dozens of missions together over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. He is the real deal. This, of all his great books, let me know as a FAC pilot what REALLY was going on, on the ground. I am humbled to have flown with John and ALL the green berets of SOG who demonstrated such awesome courage. No purple hearts were won there for minor scratches. Each page is riviting and puts the reading in the jungle surrounded by hundreds of NVA bent on taking out the teams. John's tribute to the Covey FACs (part III) was particularly moving. Hand Salute to you "Plasticman."
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Summary: Secret Commandos by John L. Plaster
Review: John Plaster's account of SOC missions into Laos are great. I was there as a helicopter gunship pilot with the 189th AHC Ghostriders/Avengers between 11/68-10-69. I was in the SOC Kontum Compound for numerous briefings before flying into Laos and from my personal knowledge John Plaster could not have written a more accurate book of real warriors in Vietnam. If you want to see a true dead man walking, grinning from ear to ear, look into the face of a SOG member after 7 days in Laos as I have at Dak To. My helicopter company was not the only one involved in SOG missions in Laos. Just ask any of the additional brave warriors that flew the helicopters in support of SOG. These brave aviators/crews were only 20 & 21 years old and belonged to the following companies; 57th AHC Gladiator/Cougar, 119th AHC Gators/Crocs, 170th AHC Bikinis/Buccaneers, 189th AHC Ghostriders/Avengers and 361st AHC (Cobra) Pink Panthers. Captain Dave Speer, call sign Avenger #10
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Summary: The Truth of War
Review: Major John Plaster ranks as one of the top historians of the Vietnam War and stands alone among writers about special operations in Indochina. In Secret Commandos, Plaster continues the story he first brought to readers in SOG: The Secret Wars of Americas Commandos in Vietnam. Unlike all of the phoney wannabes that inhabit the fringe world of post-Vietnam America John Plaster is one who has been there, done that and has the T-shirt! You will sweat with him running recon along the Ho Chi Minh trail, shiver in the chill Central Highland nights while the enemy searches for him in the darkness, bleed with his comrades as they fight and die in places that are as remote for most Americans as the far side of the moon. But in Secret Commandos you will be on top of the action in a manner that can be written only by one with the experience who combines that background with an extraordinary writing talent.
Secret Commandos is a must-read for anyone who is interested in America's secret operations in Vietnam, in what the US Special Forces soldier is really made of, and in learning the hard-core truth. The soldiers who volunteered for SOG were a special breed no doubt. For most of a generation they have been overlooked, ignored, hidden behind mounds of top secret classification stamps, or lied about by detractors, impersonators and pretenders. No more. John Plaster rips back the curtain to show war at its most difficult - and in so doing displays the remarkable abilities, dedication and professionalism of our very special American fighting men.
Buy this book and treasure it. Recommend it to your friends. Get the word out: learn the truth of Vietnam and meet the men this fine country produces who will sacrifice and die to defend our freedom. This is a story that has waited a long time to be told and has the perfect man to tell it.
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