GRP 37-On this episode we have three guys back on the show. G from Zulu Foxtrot. G is a Marine combat veteran with rotations to Fallujah, and Ramadi in Iraq during some of the worst fighting. Jason Economos is a MACV-SOG unit historian, and the author of an excellent novel on SOG called “Gentle Propositions”. Back on is a Global Recon fave Mike Stahl who is from the first generation of Special Forces Green Berets. Mike served in Vietnam on a Special Forces A-Team, and went on to become a team leader in the ultra secret MACV-SOG recon teams. Below is an excerpt from the episode:

G: The idea, or concept of SOG, did that start from the military itself? Or was that the politicians saying we have an issue and we need to deal with it?

Mike Stahl: “Well G, you got to go back to the “Bay of Pigs” when the CIA screwed up that, and they decided to turn all active military operations over to the military. Then you’ve got Kennedy giving us the Green Beret, and giving us that mission. It came out as a need, even though our rules of warfare said we were restricted to fighting strictly ground war within south Vietnam. As we talked about with the enemies massing on the other side of the border you’ve got to know what’s going on. Smarter minds prevailed, and we bypassed Congress. Even we were restricted by only going only within 7 miles across the border.”

John Hendricks: G, I know you were in Iraq during the earlier stages. Fallujah, Ramadi those were pretty bad areas at the time. I know you guys were getting into a lot of contact. A lot of ambushes. I’m not sure if IED’s were as widespread at the time. Was that something you guys were dealing with?

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