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the most top-secret unit of the united
states army in the vietnam war was
established in january of 1964 and was
called the military assistance command
vietnam studies and observation group
but it was mostly referred to as mac v
sag only the best of the best were
recruited for the high-risk high-reward
missions that the unit carried out in
south vietnam north vietnam laos and
cambodia army green berets navy seals
marine force recon air force and cia
personnel were among the bravest men
that filled its ranks
macd missions involved sabotage
strategic reconnaissance personnel
recovery counterintelligence and
psychological operations all behind
enemy lines and stories of 10 man units
that held off against thousands of
communists were common however more than
half of those who enrolled did not
return from their missions
but this did not stop makissang from
becoming the unit with the highest kill
death ratio in american history
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american forces in vietnam
the battle of dien benfa in may of 1954
proved that the french army and the
renowned french foreign legion were
incapable of defending their colonial
territory from the expansion of
communism and the french dominion in
vietnam or indochina ended in 1955
what followed echoed the aftermath of
the korean war the vietnamese population
was divided some favored the european
way of life to keep practicing their
catholic faith inherited by the french
missionaries while others preferred
complete ideological independence from
any foreign power and opted for
communism north vietnam aided by the
soviet union in china wanted to take
over the south which had the support of
france the united states and other
members of the united nations the u.s
had discretely begun to send army
advisors to train and support the south
vietnamese in the early 1960s president
john f kennedy increased support for its
asian ally but refused to send american
military personnel to prevent another
war still green berets were sent to
vietnam to form a south vietnamese
special forces group that would be known
as the first observation group
aided by both the us department of
defense and the cia
the men of this unit had the objective
of becoming the main line of defense
against a possible chinese invasion of
south vietnam
as the number of candidates increased
the first observation group was deployed
in 15 man groups to conduct guerrilla
warfare against the communists and after
a north vietnamese attack on laos in
1961 president kennedy gave the green
light to expand the first operation
group's area of operations throughout
all of vietnam
still this was not enough and more
american soldiers were required for
highly perilous missions
[Music]
the study is an observations group
to prevent the expansion of communism
and give an edge to the south vietnamese
the united states decided to create a
classified unit that can operate in
small numbers behind enemy lines to
gather intelligence and sabotage the
communist plans
the unit was initially called the
studies and observation group or sag and
it was controlled by the special
assistant for counter-insurgency in
special activities at the pentagon born
out of a need to establish a more
aggressive stance against the spread of
communism in laos cambodia and all of
asia another unit was created to broaden
the capabilities of sag personnel in
vietnam a military assistance command
vietnam studies and observation group
was activated on january 19 1964 by the
joint chiefs of staff a subsidiary
command of the military assistance
command enlisted men often referred to
the unit as mac b sag and it was created
to function as a joint special
operations task force
after the disastrous bay of pigs
invasion in 1961 the military no longer
trusted the cia in organizing
paramilitary organizations it was then
established that macv would be led by a
special forces colonel and formed by
top-tier personnel from all the american
military factions and the cia this
included a rigorous selection of men
from the ranks of the army special
forces air force navy seals and marine
corps force recon
according to the us military assistance
command vietnam studies and observations
group annex a command history from 1964
mcv's official mission was to quote
execute an intensified program of
harassment diversion political pressure
the capture of prisoners physical
destruction acquisition of intelligence
generation of propaganda and diversion
of resources against the democratic
republic of vietnam
from 1964 onward small groups of elite
mcv personnel aided by south vietnamese
commandos would make high-altitude low
opening parachute jumps behind enemy
lines to wreak havoc in the ho chi minh
trail laos and cambodia
robert seals from the us army history
office stated that quote
makbisog grew in size and scope over the
next eight years
missions evolved over time and included
strategic reconnaissance direct action
sabotage personnel recovery
psychological operations
counterintelligence and bomb damage
assessments maritime operations covered
the coastal areas of north vietnam
sciott missions included voice of
freedom radio broadcasts into north
vietnam to publicize the advantages of
life in south vietnam
history
macbee's involvement in vietnam began
during the gulf of tonkin incident on
the night of july 30th 1964 four macd
boats shelled two islands off the coast
of north vietnam when the mcp boats were
gone north vietnamese torpedo ships
retaliated and pursued the uss maddox
destroyer this led the united states to
declare a war against north vietnam once
the us was entirely involved in the war
mcp operatives were cleared in september
of 1965 for operation shining brass the
infiltration of laos to conduct
reconnaissance missions in the ho chi
minh trail
with the help of the seventh air force
macv carried out strategic bombardments
in the zone with devastating effects
during one of the bombardments special
forces captain larry thorne a world war
ii legend that had fought the soviets as
part of the finnish army and the elite
german baffin ss
became macbee's first casualty after his
huey crashed
by late 1965 mcnee was split into three
regions command and control north
command and control central and command
and control south while the main
quarters were established in saigon
each site operated independently and
reacted according to its own particular
situation
teams were mostly made up of ten men of
which two to four were americans and the
rest were either vietnamese cambodian or
chinese commandos robert seals added
that quote each mission was unique but
most followed a similar technical
profile after being alerted of a mission
the reconnaissance team was briefed and
conducted detailed planning rehearsals
inspections and training time permitting
teams were inserted by helicopter into
the target area like world war ii of an
ss units macv teams were given
considerable freedom in terms of the
many tactics they could employ to
accomplish their objective as well as
the weapons uniforms and equipment they
could carry enemy equipment was often
used especially firearms like the ak-47
and rpk to confuse the enemy during
firefights
in addition while deep in the jungle mac
b sog units kept close communication
with forward air control fixed-wing
aircraft for close air support and
immediate extractions when missions went
wrong most operations lasted from three
to seven days and it was not uncommon
for the ten-man squads to be surrounded
by hundreds of north vietnamese and viet
cong troops mack v reconnaissance
casualties were exceedingly high but the
unit still achieved the highest kill
ratio in united states military history
averaging 158 to one during the last
three years of the vietnam war john l
plaster former macbee veteran and author
of the book sag the secret wars of
america's commandos in vietnam served
three tours as a long-range recon leader
gathering information about the enemy in
laos and cambodia
in his book placer gathered the
testimonies of over 100 members of sog
and their almost unbelievable acts of
heroism during the war
one of them involved the bravery of the
14 men from recon team kansas and how
they stood against an entire nva
regiment while another recognized the
recon team colorado and how they
defeated a formation of over 300 north
vietnamese by placing eight claymore
mines in their way the volunteer teams
often found themselves escaping from the
hornet's nest but there was a cost to
pay for such bravery
of the 58 makbisog personnel captured by
the enemy only one of them survived the
rest were never released charles wilklow
is the only known survivor who made it
out after the north vietnamese army
believed he would not make it because of
his wounds
legacy
the american withdrawal from vietnam
strongly affected sog in 1972.
the personnel was reduced but they kept
infiltrating enemy lines to strike from
the rear and halt entire nba battalions
with guerilla warfare tactics
nine men from mac b sag including gary
rose lauren haagen robert howard tom
morris and franklin miller were awarded
the medal of honor and another 22 were
awarded the distinguished service cross
mexican american staff sergeant roy
benavidez was the last macd sock member
to receive the medal of honor from the
hands of president ronald reagan after
the unit was declassified in the late
1980s
two decades later the union itself was
awarded a presidential unit citation
during a ceremony held at fort bragg
north carolina several macd veterans
have written about their time in the
vietnam war in plaster's book has been
continually used as a reference by the
media to tell the soldier's story the
legendary macbee sog unit has been
featured in many movies and video games
like the call of duty series the arma
games and most famously in francis ford
coppola's classic film apocalypse now
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