Sog: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I grew up during the late 60's and missed going to "WAR" litteraly by days. My lottery number was 14 in 1972 and I didn't want to be the last casualty. I have read many accounts from service men and women that served during that time. Most were politicized explanations why we failed. I know from first hand accounts from friends, relatives and neighbors that we didn't always fail. This book was the first that explained how and why we succeded. I have read this book twice and find it fascinating and compelling. The bravery shown by those men is inspiring. Why did it take this many years for us to learn there were honorable fighting men in the U.S. military during that time frame. I gave the book to a friend that was a civilian female working on a project in country and she was able to expand on some of the names, places, and events in the book. She said " Why didn't he write this 20 years ago?". I recommend this book to anyone interested in special ops., the Vietnam era, or bravery in combat!!

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Summary: A must read book for military and civilians alike
Review: This book is so well written and full of exciting content that I have read it twice (something I have never done with any other book). As a SF soldier myself, I feel this book should be mandatory reading for other SF soldiers.This serves as a reckoning of our proud heritage and insight to skills we should never lose. I know and have met several of the men mentioned in the book but many were too modest to divulge much of the infomation given in SOG. It reads as if it were told by an SF soldier, because it is, but has a genuine flavor that even a non-military reader can easily digest. My beret is off to Maj. Plaster for a book well written.

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Summary: A look at one of the secret operations in the Viet Nam war
Review: SOG conducted cross-border recon operations, primarily to learn about the Ho Chi Mihn trail. Well written. Very readable. One gets an adrenaline rush just reading about the incredible risks these guys took. But don't make more of it than it is: It is one man's view of SOG, not Special Forces, not the Army, and certainly not an analysis of US government policy.

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Summary: Maj. Plaster makes only one mistake within this great book..
Review: This country direly needed this book years ago when we struggled coming to terms with our "failure" during the Second Indochina War. Many brave men, serving above and beyond their call to duty are covered here. Many of the names are on the Wall. Bless them all! The one mistake? John lists a Green Beret legend, One-Zero Dick Meadows, as being born in a dirt-floor, moonshiner's cabin in West Virginia. Actually, the cabin was located in Alleghany County in western VIRGINIA. Richard "Junior" Meadows has been a research project of mine since I learned he was from my hometown! Would love any additional information from other readers. Great book John!

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Summary: An outstanding description of SOF activity in Vietnam.
Review: John Plaster does an outstanding job of conveying the "SOG" experience in Vietnam. Although I was not there, I know those who were and his descriptions are right on target. As a retired AF Officer I can relate to his descriptions of the personnel who served in SOG; Officers and NCOs who led from the front and "Whiskey Delta" Officers and NCOs whose only concern was number one and lead from the rear. This book should be mandatory reading for those who wish to gain an understanding of the Vietnam War and the men who fought in it. Despite the anti-war protests at home, the incompetence of the senior military and political leadership, the men who served in SOG were volunteers who served their country with great distinction and returned home with honor.

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Summary: sog goes only so far...
Review: SOG unveiled some highly worthwhile information about a largely unknown, or at least very little known, aspect of the Vietnam War, but it failed to go far enough. War stories, of which the book was full, are fine, and as a 20-month infantry veteran of Vietnam, I found them well-written, but lacking was any real sense of SOG's actual impact. In other words, for every tale of derring-do, the fact remains that it came to no good: we lost, they won. I never got a feel for the deeper impact, if any, of SOG's efforts - did the information and intelligence actually have any effect on the operational aspects of the war, or are we really left with no more than a collection of colorful but, in the end, pointless stories? Overall, I enjoyed it but felt frustrated by it.

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Summary: The single best book that I have read on Vietnam
Review: My husband served 3 tours in Vietman as a Special Forces "One Zero" , and while he is not personally cited by name in this book, this is his story. In reading it, I finally realized what he had been challenged to do, with honor, and how he had survived against 100% mortality odds. The level of courage and sacrifice that these men freely gave, because they believed in each other, and their will to sacrifice all in order to save a team member goes beyond our understanding. The book reinforces for me why my husband is my personal hero. By the way, he is the medic who tied the helicopter to a tree using his descent rope, when he went in to extract a casuality... he said " Yaah.. they fly around in a real funny circle when you do that.. I always did that to new pilots... "

Rating:
Summary: "SOG" is the best title on SF in Viet Nam
Review: John Plaster's "SOG" is an amazing work. Most such Viet Nam histories are dry and dull, no matter what kind of action is being described. This book describes in detail a story that the participants have (in my experience as an author) mostly refused to acknowledge, much less discuss. Major Plaster describes these extremely kinky ops in charming detail. He was a player, not an observer. He is an excellent writer. The combination is compelling. All SOF Viet Nam vets of my acquaintance are raving about this great book.

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Summary: Plaster's account of SOG operations is the closest yet truth
Review: John Plaster knows intimately about the largest of the MACV SOG Operations, known as OP-34, code-named Prarie Fire and Daniel Boone (and a few others). He was there. I was also there, in SOG, but in a different place from Plaster. I was privileged to have an overview of all the operations, but I have seen no accounting of SOG operations as realistic and comprehensive as Plaster's. In addition to his factual recitation of facts, Plaster finds a way to bring the people, who he served with on the ground, alive for the reader. He relates not only the combat, and there is plenty for anyone, but humorous anecdotes that are dead-on for the times, places, and most necessarily the amazingly brave people who fought as much for each other as for any ideal. John Plaster, in addition to being a fine soldier, is a fine writer.

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Summary: A book I never will forget.
Review: I have been reading military history for almost 50 years. I have known and worked with many brave men. Directly and indirectly, I lived military history for 37 years. The Vietnam war, which was much wider than Vietnam, holds a special place in my heart, primarily because of the men -- and women -- who were there. This book tells the story of special participants in that war, men whose courage and sacrifice honor us all. It is a book well worth reading. It is a monument, of sorts, after all these years