Monthly Archives: October 2020

The Green Berets receive their magical ArmaLite Singlepoint Sights…

Army,

Wednesday October 21st, 1970

…exactly 50 years ago today.

…and you’ll be surprised by how you operate this technology.

Most of the Son Tay Raiders carried the CAR-15 with the 30-round magazine, which were rare in the DOD inventory.

Although 30-round magazines are now common, they were new technology in 1970. The “first generation” of 30-round magazines, called constant curve magazines, had feeding problems. The magazines we used were “second generation” and had to be specifically ordered for the mission from Colt Arms Company because these magazines were not available through normal supply channels. The 30-round magazines reduced the number of times I would need to reload in a firefight.

We had to fabricate our own pouches (from Claymore mine bags) to carry these magazines because they were so new to the Army.

Some of the Son Tay Raiders used electrical tape to secure their slings, reinforce the mount on their Singlepoint sight, and to keep dirt out of the muzzles of their rifles.

The Singlepoint Sight was a technology developed in Britain. Here are some questions for you to ponder (the surprising answers are given in the book Who Will Go):

  1. How do you think it got its power?
  2. What do you think you’d see when you look through the Singlepoint Sight.
  3. Do you think it is better to leave both of your eyes open or to close your other eye?

We are thankful for these details provided through the research of Dr. Earl Burress, Jr., Owen Lincoln, and Augee Kim.

The Son Tay Raid version of the CAR-15. Photo by Colin Blount.
An advertisement that Dick Meadows was aware of–ArmaLite was marketing this British technology to police.
The story is that Dick Meadows suggested the idea of employing this new technology. Here, the TOC Log shows he explored this innovation early and his idea was implemented.

See all the pages of this ArmaLite advertisement in Who Will Go.

Click Here:  The book.

Escorting Barbara.

Air Force, Army,

Story by USAF Sgt Ken Ruud from Pope AFB, NC.

I was in Detachment 2 of the 1st Special Operations Wing at Pope AFB when I was assigned to deliver “Barbara” to Eglin AFB from Pope. I was an E-4, so when I bumped a Colonel from his flight, I knew I was a courier for something very special…but I had no idea what was in that box!

(Sgt Ruud arrived at Aux Field #3 with “Barbara” at 11am on Tuesday September 8th, 1970. It was used in the Tactical Operations Center at Aux Field #3 for the handful of planners. It was finally revealed to the Green Berets on Monday October 19th.)

The Defense Intelligence Agency (at “Arlington Hall” in Arlington, VA) coordinated intelligence production during the planning stages of the operation and provided finished intelligence analysis to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They constructed this model for the Raiders based upon photos from Buffalo Hunter drones andSR-71 reconnaissance flights.

You can see a full color “pin up” of Barbara in Who Will Go.

Click Here:  The book.

Today we first laid eyes on Barbara…

Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy,

Monday October 19th, 1970

…exactly 50 years ago today.

Security was tight. We were kept in the dark.
Then, on Monday October 19th, we were introduced to Barbara. She was a sight to behold! Everyone had been wanting to lay eyes on her. She was the talk of the week. She was housed in a separate building away from us and each of us was required to study her so that we had a mental image of every inch of her. Barbara was a model. And someday, Barbara would be famous.

When I was with her, I used a prism to study her so that, when the time was right and I exited the chopper, I would be oriented to everything around me. It was time well spent. You see, Barbara was a precise scale replica of a military compound (the Son Tay POW camp), created from CIA photographs taken from Buffalo Hunter drones and SR-71 manned reconnaissance aircraft. It was codenamed “Barbara” after Barbara L. Strosnider, a secretary from the United States Air Force Directorate of Plans, at the Pentagon where the model was created.

The CIA had done an excellent job of detailing the terrain and buildings at the camp. One item that really fascinated me was the bicycle that was parked in front of the Communications Building that Capt Dan and I had to neutralize as quickly as we could before enemy reinforcements could be alerted. On the night of the raid, as we approached the actual building—sure as heck—the bicycle was there!

The intel we had was amazing and the intel community deserves praise. Sadly, there are too many armchair quarterbacks who have a political agenda when they criticize the intel.

Barbara is in this photo.

You can see a full color “pin up” of Barbara in Who Will Go.

Click Here:  The book.

Admiral McCain’s calculation.

Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy, POW,

Friday October 16th
“No Fail” Fridays

[This is the second in a series. It will be a weekly challenge to historians: The Son Tay Raid was a SUCCESS. No qualifier is appropriate. Over these next few Fridays, I’ll show you why.]
There is a word that is too often used in conversations about the Son Tay Raid. That word should be banished from any analysis of the Raid.

Challenge 2:

The Son Tay Raid’s highest objective was to SEND THE MESSAGE TO ALL THE POWs.
Consider this: The Raid was never designed to rescue ALL the American POWs. At the most, it would have rescued merely 15% of the POWs held by the North Vietnamese Government! No, the primary mission was to SEND THE MESSAGE to ALL THE POWS: “America is doing EVERYTHING possible to bring you home.”

The commanders’ calculation:
• The Raid would raise the morale of all the other POWs and
• It would strike fear into the heart of the enemy and
• The POTENTIALITY of reprisals against the remaining POWs was outweighed by the ACTUALITY of the hell they were currently living (some had been in solitary confinement never hearing an American voice for a year at a time) and
• EVEN IF IT BRINGS HOME NO POWS, it will send the message to the current and future generations that we will stop at nothing to get them home!

Among the other objectives:
• Rescue as many POWs as possible and, where feasible, return them to the fight.
• Put the communist government of North Vietnam on notice that the US can operate with impunity anywhere in their country.

Consider the gentleman in the photo below.
Each year while Admiral Jack McCain was CINCPAC (Commander in Chief of Pacific Command), he paid a Christmastime visit to the American troops in South Vietnam serving closest to the DMZ.

Admiral McCain would stand alone at the DMZ for a few silent moments and look north to be as close to his son as he could get.

Brigadier General Donald Blackburn, who first conceived the raid, told this story:
As the top-secret plan got approval with the CIA, DIA, and Kissinger, Gen Blackburn told Admiral [Thomas H.] Moorer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “We need to tell McCain about this.” On the day that Blackburn briefed Admiral McCain, the admiral almost had tears. He said, “Don, how about coming back this afternoon. I’ll discuss this further with you then.”
As Blackburn was escorted down the hall, Admiral McCain’s aide said, “You know about the son?”
In that afternoon meeting, McCain said, “You have got 100 percent support from me.”
Blackburn explains that, throughout the entire operation, McCain “supported us beautifully–anything we wanted.”

The risks were fully understood. Admiral McCain knew that the odds of his son being among the POWs rescued were extremely low and that there was a chance of reprisals against the remaining POWs. With full knowledge of that risk, he and the other commanders knew that the highest of the many priorities was to send the message.

It was a success.

What would happen to his son after the Son Tay Raid.

12 POWs candidly tell us stories about the Son Tay Raid in Who Will Go.

Click Here:  The book.

General Westmoreland and MSgt Herman Spencer…

Army,

[Earlier this week we posted a story with a photo that included Master Sgt Herman Spencer. We have a story about MSgt Spencer.]

For this episode, we’ll Fast Forward to one week AFTER the Raid.

All the Green Berets were back at Fort Bragg. Four-star General William Westmoreland, Chief of Staff of the US Army, wanted to honor the Son Tay Raiders. He held a dinner in our honor at the Officers’ Club.

Like many dinner speakers, after a few minutes the speech gets boring and this was the case with General Westmoreland. Now, most people will sit and listen as the speaker rambles on…and then there are people like Master Sgt Herman Spencer.

MSgt Spencer, after patiently listening to the General for 20 or 30 minutes, decided he had heard all he needed to hear. MSgt Spencer stood up and took his wife’s hand and proceeded to walk out, saying he had heard enough.

General Westmorland stops talking and watches, along with every other eye in the room, as MSgt Spencer walked out.

I can tell you that this was very typical of Spencer. He was not political. He was a warrior. When the bullets start to fly, he is the guy you want on your team. The Raiders all knew Spencer (and probably wanted to do the same).

The Fort Bragg O’Club looks exactly the same today.

Read the rest of Terry Buckler’s stories in Who Will Go.

Click Here:  The book.