On the Ground

The Secret War in Vietnam

By: John Stryker Meyer, John E. Peters

Narrated by: John Stryker Meyer

Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Inside MACV-SOG

During the Vietnam War, a “secret war” was fought across the fence in Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam, unknown to the media or the public, under the aegis of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam’s top secret Studies and Observations Group. SOG’s chain of command for missions and after-action reports extended to the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Small Green Beret-lead teams ran missions into Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam without assistance from conventional artillery, tank or infantry units. Once on the ground, their sole support was provided by Air Force Tactical Air and helicopter units, US Army and Marine helicopter aviation personnel and aircrews, and from the South Vietnam Air Force’s 219th Special Operations Squadron, code named Kingbees.

In Laos, the communists dedicated 50,000 troops to the Ho Chi Minh Trail, including highly trained sappers from the 305th Sapper Battalion, its sole mission: Attack SOG teams.

©2007, 2017, 2018 John Stryker Meyer (P)2020 John Stryker Meyer

The man who lived it!

I loved the fact that the man who narrates the story, is the same man who lived it! Unparalleled courage. A real history of the time and events in Southeast Asia.

TREMENDOUS BRAVERY

It was a great listen; I'd recommend listening to Jocko Willink to get to know this humble SOG warrior before listening to the book.

Absolutely awesome!

I listened to Across the Fence first and it took me a few to get accustomed to Mr Meyer’s reading style. It worked best for me on 1.2x speed. I would much rather listen to these stories straight from this heros mouth rather than a voice actor. The book itself is just incredible, its unimaginable what these men did for us and the people of Vietnam. I loved everything about this book, the drama, the humor, the bravery, the commitment and love these men have for their brothers in arms even when they are from completely different worlds and can barely speak the same language. Even if you arent a fan of war stories this book is a must listen/read. Huge thank you to John Stryker Meyer and all the men of SOG.

Good Read

Excellent story and definitely worth reading. The author probably should have let a professional read it.

Amazing story

Amazing story by a true American Hero. Some reviews criticize the authors reading style but I enjoy hearing the story from his own voice which adds flavor and realism.

Excellent

Enjoyed it. Excellent understanding of what warriors did in SOG. Incredible stories of war. Thanks

JSM’s courage and unselfish devotion to his country, his men, and to his missions.

Great stories told by a true hero. Unfortunately his telling of his story left much to be desired. He read his story instead of telling it. It was like reading a book without punctuations. It was disconcerting to listen to as there were pauses that broke the continuity of what was being said. Many times his words didn’t flow and became difficult to follow smoothly.

horrible reading. very poor

story was excellent but the reading was filled pauses, mispronounced words and remakes of the same sentences.

Great!

Amazing book and good reading. Can’t wait for more from the author. Highly recommended this book!

Absolutely incredible

This book is nothing short of amazing and when I start to feel my trivial problems in life are overwhelming I think about Tilt and the guys from SOG and what they went through and in their early 20s. I appreciate it was read by the man himself and I can’t imagine it any other way, despite other reviews. Thank you Tilt for sharing your stories personally as I’m sure some are painful. Thank you for your service. Read these books people.