Book Review

The Lair of Raven
By Colonel (Ret.) Craig W. Duehring
Published by Colonel (Ret.) Craig W. Duehring, USAF
(December 10, 2014)
234 pages

By How Miller

The Lair of Raven, by Craig W. Duehring, is about the Secret War in 1960’s to 70’s Laos. The North Vietnamese communists and the Lao equivalent of the Viet Cong (called the Pathet Lao) were trying to turn the Kingdom of Laos into a communist state. Simultaneously, they were moving men and materials from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to help their war effort in South Vietnam. The group of secret U.S. Forward Air Controllers (FACs), known as the Ravens, helped to stop them.

While much is now known about the Studies and Observations Group (SOG), run largely by Green Berets and indigenous troops, such as Montagnards and Nungs, they operated mostly in the eastern 25 km of Laos, Cambodia, and some of North Vietnam. The rest of Laos, west and north of the SOG AO, was where the CIA supported the Royal Thai Army and especially the Hmong-dominated SGUs, which were led by famous Hmong General Vung Pao.

The author, after a 7-month tour as a FAC in South Vietnam, extended his service to be able to join a secret outfit called the Ravens, where he served for the next 12 months. Through his use of his personal flight logs, awards and commendations that he was in charge of writing, his own memories, and various other research, he has given us an example, in very personal terms, of what his small group of brave American pilots did and fits that into the context of the communists’ attempt to subjugate all of what was known as Indochina.

He relates his own history and that of many other notable Ravens. The pace was grueling, frequently flying more than 10 hours in a day, conducting reconnaissance, assisting Search and Rescue missions, spotting and interdicting enemy troops and vehicles, and directing air strikes by American pilots in support of troops in contact. All of this was while being shot at by various anti-aircraft weapons.

Craig describes this action with the same ease that he quarterbacked everything from waves of F104s and A1 Skyraiders to CH47 Chinooks. He also relates the pain of losing fifteen of his friends. When Craig was being given his orientation in Laos, he asked what to do if he was captured. He was told, “You won’t have to worry about that.”

So, while flying an AT-28, an O-1, or other planes low, slow, and unarmoured, sometimes they used themselves as bait to find enemy gun emplacements. Then they would direct waiting planes to strafe and bomb the enemy, thus slowing the flow of men and materials south to South Vietnam while helping Laos retain its sovereignty.

His writing exudes the respect he had for the Lao and Hmong pilots, back-seaters, and troops on the ground. He also advocates for help for the Hmong, which we stopped helping in 1973. The book details where to find more information, including at the Raven’s website, and informative videos.

Next month, moving from Laos in the air, Marc Yablonka’s Tears Across the Mekong will show the effects of the secret war from the perspective of those who endured it on the ground.

Craig has shared a sample of his book, starting with his entry into Laos and a quick introduction to the Raven’s style of combat. Click here to read this excerpt.