October 2022 Sentinel

From the Editor:

Our much loved and respected, multi-term Chapter 78 President, Bruce Long hit his final DZ on 9/14/22. He will be missed by his friends, relatives, chapter members, and our SF National Guard company C/1/!9, in whose predecessor companies Bruce served. He was a great supporter of them and practically all people he ran into.

Our Kenn Miller, LRRP, Ranger, author, and book reviewer, writes one of his most direct and enthusiastic reviews about Tip of the Spear, by Ryan Hendrickson.

Our “letters to the editor” included a request for help from a bunch of Green Berets from Northern Pennsylvania. They are looking to build their informal get-togethers into something more robust. If you, or an SF friend, live in the Northeastern PA area, please contact them. Who knows, you might be able to start a new SFA chapter together.

My book review of Scott Mann’s Operation Pineapple Express is much more than that. For many, it will introduce a retired Green Beret who continues to give on an incredible scale. He does motivational speaking, TED talks, writes books, produces and acts in a play, helps Vets, and runs a charity or three. In an hour of need, he put together and ran an organization that has been instrumental in us helping fulfill our unwritten promise to our Afghan partners to have their backs, like they had ours. And to top it off, as in all that he does, it’s a great book, suspenseful, informative, and self revealing.

In “A Defector in Place,” retired Green Beret, Greg Walker tells another no-holds-barred story. This one is about a Green Beret whose destiny was to use those skills to try to aid his own country by joining the other side. Everything David Baez did while a Green Beret was exemplary, but he had to fulfill his family loyalty by leaving and joining the Sandanistas. They were wary of him at first, but just as he proved himself to us, so did he find a welcome there. It is a tale with twists and turns, told masterfully by Greg Walker. This is part 1 of a three part series.

It is fitting due to their anniversary, and the fact that the 10th SFG (A) will be welcoming SFACON 2022 participants to their inner sanctum, that we give you a history of their accomplishments.

Finally, a plug for an incredibly helpful charity, Veterans Canine Intelligence Academy that came to visit this month’s chapter meeting. It is run by one of our comrades-in-arms, a former Navy SEAL, followed by pictures of our meeting.

Enjoy.

How Miller
Sentinel Editor