On Patriots Day: America has always had patriots humbly serving.

Army,

50 years ago this week.

Story by Sgt Robert Hobdy, Training Support Element at Eglin AFB

I was one of the Green Berets who guarded the Mockup that the Blueboy, Greenleaf, and Redwine groups trained on. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to be one of the 56. I was chosen to research and train members of the three elements in the use of the radios for the mission.

After the Raiders left for the mission, I remained behind in Florida with other members of the support element. We trained in the Mockup daily—as if the rest of you guys were still there training. We even did some live fire and air support training with the A-1s. Any satellite viewer would think that all us Green Berets were still in training at Aux Field #3, thus hiding the timing of the mission.

The Mockup was made of 2x4s and burlap cloth and was NOT taken down each day. I hope this helps clear up the myth that the Mockup was disassembled each day.

(I did help tear it down once—at the end when we packed up and left Aux Field #3.)

This view of the Mockup is from the northwest corner of the Son Tay POW camp. Looking closely you can see the helicopter in the background. The helicopter is on the south side of the POW camp. The nearest structure likely represents the northwest guard tower.

Read Sgt Terry Buckler’s full story in Who Will Go.

Click Here:  The book.