From the Editor:

We start with an amazing and engaging story by James D. McLeroy. Sending in a ‘Letter to the Editor”, he shared an article he wrote for Soldier of Fortune Magazine in the 1980s. As the XO of A104 in 1967, with his CIDG patrol in a remote part of his AO, he found himself in deep s**t. Their luck was running out. In desperation, he calls for his “Secret Weapon.” Against all odds, he is alive today due to his “Secret Weapon”.

Two more submissions from Sentinel reader Denis Chericone in his captivating style:

“The Meal” compellingly tells about being under siege for three weeks at Lang Vei. The camp hadn’t been hit yet, but food was dwindling to nothing. Fate was to intervene for the better, but he draws you in with his relatable details.

Then in “Descent”, his next assignment is out of the highlands on the Cambodian border, and almost as soon as he gets there, he heads out to help out at the site of a deadly friendly fire event. After two heavy days of treating wounds and stuffing body bags, he finally gets to tell his equally drained senior medic where he just came from.

Mark Yablonka enlightens us with another story about his travels as a journalist. This time, he travels from Thailand to war torn Cambodia in 1996. His story runs the gamut from the killing fields of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, the slavery of POW’s building the Burma Railroad, the dangers still in Phnom Penh, and running into notables such as Tim Page and Peter Arnet.

We will miss Mike Keele, who passed away in early April. Debra Holm has written a touching tribute to Mike, utilizing material from interviews, articles written by and about Mike, and listening to Gregory Keele’s podcast about his father (search for Virtual Startup Academy on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or Google Podcasts to listen). It includes heartfelt note from John Stryker Meyer, who originally brought Mike to a meeting of Chapter 78 after meeting him at a book signing. Mike became an honorary member of Chapter 78 due to his valiantly crewing helicopters for the 1st Cav, who were supporting SOG at the time. Mike’s SOG stories/heroism stem from SOG missions in Laos and the A Shau Valley. He was also a member of Special Operations Association, a cop, and much more. He wrote many articles for the Sentinel and was always helping out however he could.

We have a brief report about Chapter 29’s Special Operators Ball, and their tribute to Medal of Honor recipient, Roger Donlan.

We finish with pictures from our April chapter meeting.

Enjoy!

How Miller
Sentinel Editor