SOG

Publisher's Summary

John Plaster’s riveting account of his covert activities as a member of a special operations team during the Vietnam War is “a true insider’s account, this eye-opening report will leave readers feeling as if they’ve been given a hot scoop on a highly classified project” (Publishers Weekly).

Code-named the Studies and Observations Group, SOG was the most secret elite US military unit to serve in the Vietnam War - so secret that its very existence was denied by the government. Composed entirely of volunteers from such ace fighting units as the Army Green Berets, Air Force Air Commandos, and Navy SEALs, SOG took on the most dangerous covert assignments in the deadliest and most forbidding theaters of operation. 

In SOG, Major John L. Plaster, a three-tour SOG veteran, shares the gripping exploits of these true American warriors in a minute-by-minute, heartbeat-by-heartbeat account of the group’s stunning operations behind enemy lines - penetrating heavily defended North Vietnamese military facilities, holding off mass enemy attacks, launching daring missions to rescue downed US pilots. Some of the most extraordinary true stories of honor and heroism in the history of the US military, from sabotage to espionage to hand-to-hand combat, Plaster’s account is “a detailed history of this little-known aspect of the Vietnam War...a worthy act of historical rescue from an unjustified, willed oblivion” (The New York Times).

©1997 John L. Plaster. All rights reserved. (P)2019 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Wow

Great group of stories a TON of black operational action. We need more from the Vietnam vets, to understand in detail what they went through. I’ll read it all.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Amazing

I’ve read and listened to hundreds of military books and the stories contained within this book are some of the best. They are historically accurate and tell the amazing story of this special operations community during the Vietnam war.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

More SOG needed on Audible before it's too late

It took 22 years from Plaster's hardcover in 1997 to make finally make SOG more accessible in 2019 on Audible. Plaster gave 14 hours in audio content on the Secret Wars, a mere introduction.

Plaster's survey includes some harrowing accounts and some analysis. Still, strategic reconnaissance missions and unconventional warfare conducted by SOG can only be imagined. Hardly anybody talks about it.

We have Nick Brokhausen's book: 'We Few' on Audible. We have Lynne M. Black's book: 'Whisky Tango Foxtrot' on Kindle but not Audible (yet). We need more. SOG warriors will get old and a lot of us who came after them are ready to listen.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

WOW!

Great story about great men. I didn't care for the narrator's voice much but really good over all

thrilling!!

I'm a history buff that had no idea this was going on. What hero's these men were!

Very good

This was a very good book. I hesitated getting it biased on a few poor reviews and now after finishing it I strongly disagree with them. The book reads as an over all story of the men in SOG during Nam. Not just one personal experience. It hits all the high and low points of many different teams missions. Also some very interesting James Bond type stuff as in counter intelligence and such. I loved learning about all that went down in Laois and Cambodia on the ground that I’ve herd referenced before but never in detail. I’ve listened to many Nam books and this one had lots of new information I didn’t know. I wish we had a better commander n chief than LBJ during the war. It could have been so much better with a stronger leader. I feel shame for the way our warriors were supported by our government in that war. Nixon was better but it was too little too late. Perhaps if he had not resigned the south would never have fallen. Operation linebacker 2 should have been done years earlier. We should have unleashed the full power of our military on the nva in Laois and Cambodia. Get the book. You won’t regret it.

awful narrator

I had this pre-ordered and was super excited to start listening. However, I cannot stand how it is read. Sounds like some guy with a bad lisp or mouth full of spit, at times, very hard to understand. Three hours in and i think i am finished with it. If you're interested in other stories, try:
We Few - Nick Brokhausen
Good to Go - Harry Constance

These are phenomenal stories.

1 of 3 people found this review helpful

The forefathers of Modern Specops with mad swag

Amazing stories of hairy missions and brave men. These are the men who paved the way for modern sof units like Delta. In fact, many of the founding members of Delta were Recon men in SOG. without their contributions US sof capabilities would have been 15years behind where they were when sof began to become needed and wanted by a reluctant DOD. Also, it shows what could've been with the SOG/SOF model of by, with, and through Using small, agile teams combined with indig soldiers, instead of the sprawl and scope of the Vietnamese buildup.

Ifyou like this, find books by John Meyer who was also a One-Zero who ran Recon with SOG across the fence in laos and Cambodia.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful