Maps...

[macvsog]

Rotarwash,

See if you can ID this partcular area of this circle onthemap? You may not even know this one but allot of people who were their will. This area was even considered to be very bad for SOG Teams to get a succesful day out of it.

Here is the first: http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=26559&d=1266124155


Macvsog "Living Historian"

 

[macvsog]

SOG gear typically caried by member of a SOG team member.

Here are some pics I used on B.O.C.N. at one time. NOTE: Pictures aren't the best of quality.

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=26304&d=1265738545

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=26306&d=1265738545

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=26307&d=1265738545

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=26308&d=1265738545

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=26309&d=1265738545

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=26310&d=1265738545

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=26311&d=1265738545

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=26312&d=1265738545

If there are ANY questions about the gear, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I will answer with the correct reason why they carried each piece in the first place.

 

[macvsog]

Rotorwash or anybody else...

I will give you a hint. It is in a valley.

 

[rotorwash]

If we took off from Kham Duc and flew on a heading of about 205 degrees at nosebleed altitude for about 45 minutes we would have crossed into Laos and be over a pretty little valley. We can head SE to Dak To for some fuel and a beer before heading home.

RW

 

[rotorwash]

You didn't get all that stuff home did you? We carried WP in the aircraft but no frags. Foghorn is a nice touch.

RW

 

[macvsog]

Rotorwash,

No sir, I never served, I just collect their stuff. I have over $10,000 in this display of SOG Gear. my apoligies if you did think I served, Sir.


By the way, it was called the A Shau Valley. It is circled on my map.


By the way, when do you want to start talking about Conrad "Ben" Baker?

 

[rotorwash]

You have to go about 80 klicks north and stay in South Viet Nam to find the A Shau. It was just east of the Lao Border.

Trung Phan was a district in II Corps north of Dak To.

Ban Vangtat is in Laos, Google it.

RW

 

[macvsog]

Rotarwash,


Have you been over "Dollar Lake" or the "Golf Course" in northern Laos?


SOG
"LIVING Historian"

 

[rotorwash]

I don't believe I have. The only times I was over the border was when I was on the medevac-chase and we never landed. This was early in my tour, after about the third month we settled in to supporting Americal Division.

By mid-1967 we ran into a political problem if we flew over Laos, we weren't supposed to be there and removal from flight status was only the first thing that could happen to you. Congress mandated that only 200 American service men could be in Laos at any one time and there were congressional aides (the Hon. Frank Church) running around trying to count noses. Needless to say, SF gleefully created as much confusion as possible, the same guy being in three locations, things like that.

One of the funniest stories I heard about crossing the border happened to a 1/9th Cav scout pilot just before the Ia Drang battles. Two H-13 scouts got on a trail that was just loaded with NVA and began following it westward. They continued on and were discovering incredible troop concentrations and base camps that they were dutifully reporting to HQ. Problem was they were about ten miles inside Cambodia before they figured it out. HQ was fit to be tied and wanted an official explanation. The explanation came down, carefully noting that the two aircraft were making these observations while still over South Viet Nam - flying at 27,000 feet (an H-13 was gasping for air at 7,000 feet).

RW

 

[macvsog]

Rotowash,

That is a great story. What aircraft did you fly besides the Huey?

SOG "living Historian"

 

[rotorwash]

I've worked on H-21, H-13 and H-34. After I got back I worked on O-1 and U-6. I became a Tech Inspector and worked on OH-6, CH-47 and a little bit on CH-54. I instructed maintenance on OH-58. I was also on the Cobra prototype committee, I wrote the first maintenance lesson plan on the rotorhead.

RW

 

[macvsog]

Rw....

Rotorwash,

Sounds good and allot of experience to. By the way is your avatar one of the ships you use to fly?

Dollar Lake and the Golfcourse were all in northern Laos and extremely dangerous areas for SOG. The same thing for the Bra region. I cannot remember which ones were the furtherest north and much closer to North Vietnam.

The "Golfcourse" was one of the strangest AO for SOG. It was about 3 square miles of nothing but grass that only grew up to your boots and for that AO only. This is where the NVA constantly kept watch and if my memory serves me it was one of the most guarded areas in LAOS. If you can see a picture in book buy Mr. Plasters books. He has a great shot of it with Ramond Harris standing in a corner taking photos.

I'll talk more about these places later, but suffice to say, these landmarks cost SOG dearly. Some Teams were sent into these areas only to be never heard from again! Talk about spookyness.

 

[rotorwash]

All 8 gunships in the 174th AHC had that paint scheme. I can't tell from the picture which one that was. We got official permission from Gen Chenault of the Flying Tigers of WW II to use that scheme and the call sign "Shark." In the military if you want to borrow a lineage you must contact the last commander of the last unit to use it.