The Live Drop

Special Forces Author James Stejskal Stays Behind in Berlin with an Unconventional Unit

05.08.2020 - By Mark ValleyPlay

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Author James Stejskal talks about his secret Berlin unit during the Cold War.  Their mission, should hostilities have commenced, was to wreak havoc behind enemy lines and buy time for vastly outnumbered NATO forces to conduct a breakout from the city. In reality it was an ambitious and extremely dangerous mission, even suicidal.

Highly trained and fluent in German, each man was allocated a specific war-time persona. They were skilled in clandestine operations, sabotage, and intelligence tradecraft and able to act as independent operators, blending into the local population and working unseen in a city awash with spies looking for information on their every move.

Special Forces Berlin was a one of a kind unit with no parallel. It left a legacy of a new soldier: expert in irregular and unconventional warfare, one that was sought after for missions such as the attempted rescue of American hostages from Tehran in 1979. With the US government officially acknowledging their existence in 2014, their incredible story can now be told. Episode 036

Special Forces Berlin, Clandestine Cold War Operations of the US Army’s Elite 1956-1990, by James Stejskal

https://www.detachment-a.org/

James on Cold War Conversations

Author’s Facebook Page

Live Drop theme performed on electric cello by Danica Pinner danicapinner.com

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