In this issue:
From the Archive:
From the Sentinel of March 2018—MACV-SOG 1-0 School: Travis Mills’ story begins on August 23, 1968, in Na Nang with the devastating attack on FOB 4 by the North Vietnamese Army, where the then-1st Lt. sustained several severe wounds. This assault, considered the darkest day in terms of casualties in the history of the Special Forces Regiment, claimed the lives of seventeen Green Berets. The subsequent installments, to be published in the September Sentinel, will delve deeper into the development and implementation of the school, a story that, until March 2018, had never before been told.
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SOGCast
Untold stories of MAC-V SOG. Vietnam. The Secret War.
048: SOG Codename “Dynamite” Digs Into Explosive, Mind-Bending SOG Missions.
John Stryker Meyer, call sign—Tilt, interviews “Dynamite” Dick Thompson, who digs into explosive, mind-bending SOG missions. Dick has recently released the second book of his two part series SOG Codename Dynamite: A MACV-SOG 1-0’s Personal Journal. Henry L. (Dick) Thompson, Ph.D., president and CEO of High Performing Systems, Inc., is an internationally recognized consultant, educator, speaker and author. His additional publications are The Stress Effect: Why Smart Leaders Make Dumb Decisions–And What to Do About It, Handbook for Developing Emotional and Social Intelligence: Best Practices, Case Studies, and Strategies, and Jung’s Function-Attitudes Explained. Click here for his biography.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or other major podcast providers. Video episodes are available on our YouTube channel SOGCast playlist.
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print edition (pdf)
ON THE COVER: Members of ODA 595, part of Task Force Dagger, and Afghan forces ride into northern Afghanistan in October 2001. Then-SFC Chris Spence, the team’s communications sergeant, said, “No one will believe this!” Picking up his camera he shot this photo that captured history. This was the image displayed to the public by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld when speaking about the U.S. response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. The picture is currently on display at the Smithsonian Institute and served as the template for the “America’s Response Monument” located in Liberty Park in New York City. (Photo by MSG Chris Spence/U.S. Army)
From the Editor:
Our cover photo was taken by our very well received June chapter meeting speaker, Chris Spence of ODA 595 (the Horse Soldiers), pictured on our Chapter Meeting page. Read the President’s column for more chapter news and an update on the progress of registration for the Global Gathering of Green Berets—SFACON 2024 cruise. Note that time is running out soon to register for SFACON 2024.
This issue includes a review of Lorissa Rinehart’s First to the Front, the story of reporter Dickey Chapelle, a woman who defied gender discrimination to cover wars worldwide. It is an amazing tale about a woman who only wanted to get the truth out to the public. From Iwo Jima and Okinawa during the battles to freedom fighters in Cuba, Algeria, and beyond, and back again with our allies, the Vietnamese Airborne Brigade, Laotians fighting communist North Vietnamese, and finally the U.S. Marines.
Lorissa shares with us “The Sea Swallows,” a chapter from her book about a group resisting communism in the Mekong Delta. This group was a forerunner and foundation for the pacification effort largely directed by SF and the CIA.
Frequent contributor and investigative reporter Greg Walker, a retired Green Beret, takes us behind the scenes to the chaotic struggle by our Central and South American neighbors to throw off the impending yolk of communism.
Greg investigates a missionary, Jennifer Casolo, who used her position to deceptively raise funds for communists in El Salvador. When she was caught, no less than Senator Ted Kennedy threatened to cut off all funding to El Salvador if she wasn’t released. Using first-person sources, Greg puts Jennifer’s efforts in perspective and lifts the cover stories further off than before, including her possibly running reconnaissance for the guerrillas during her visit to Salvadoran 4th BDE headquarters at El Paraiso, just prior to the devastating raid on March 30, 1987.
Green Beret SSG Gregory A. Fronius was killed during that raid, the first KIA adviser in El Salvador. LTC (ret.) Lucius “Gus” Taylor describes how Gregory did not die in his sleep from a mortar, as mistakenly reported, but held off the attackers for so long that, when he was wounded and captured, they blew him up with a mine because they were so pissed off. Gus recently passed in June of this year, and Greg writes a tribute to him as well.
So that our staff can take a well-deserved and overdue rest, there will be no print edition of the Sentinel for September 2024. For September, the Sentinel online “electronic” version of the publication will expand on our monthly “From the Archive” feature with a compilation of stories from past Sentinels. We trust that you will enjoy these informative articles that have already received very favorable comments.
How Miller
Sentinel Editor
SENTINEL Awards
- Awarded best Special Forces Association Monthly Newsletter at SFA National Convention June 2011 and 2014
- Awarded Golden Quill at SFA National Convention June 2015 and June 2016
- Best Newsletter Award for 2017 from Special Forces Association National Board of Directors at the International Convention in Fayetteville, NC
- Special Forces Association (SFA) Cross Arrow Award for Excellence, 2018, First Award Presented by SFA in this category
- The War Reporters Award, Presented by Alex Quade – (War Reporter and Film Producer) for Chapter 78 Sentinel’s Commitment documenting Special Forces History, July 2018
- The Golden Arrows for Excellence in Newsletters 2019 awarded by SFA National
- The Golden Arrows for Excellence in Newsletters 2020 awarded by SFA National
The Sentinel is published monthly by Special Forces Association Chapter 78, Southern California — art direction and design by Debra Holm, Dinwiddie Holm Graphics. The views, opinions and articles printed in this issue do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Army or the United States Special Operations Command, the Special Forces Association, or Special Forces Association Chapter 78. Please address any comments to the editor at sfachapter78@gmail.com.
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