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Let Freedom Ring
L E T F R E E D O M R I N G
MEMORIAL DAY’S ARRIVAL on Monday, May 30 heralds the unofficial beginning of summer here in the Golden
Isles. School is out and the kids are free until August. Bring on picnics in the park, backyard barbeques, and beach time! It’s also a national holiday with solemn significance that we take seriously here, observing the occasion with parades and memorial services like Taps at
Twilight on St. Simons Island. It is a time to honor the service of the men and women who fought to keep our country free and are no longer with us today. In this section, EIL writer and a Vietnam veteran, Mason Stewart discusses a special breed of soldiers whose acts may be never known or recognized. Read about how you can help honor the acts of our service men and women by greeting these local heros who will be returning on May 7 from their visit to Washington D.C. on the second Coastal Georgia Honor
Flight. Learn more about the local remembrance ceremonies that will take place on the
Memorial Day holiday as well.
“Secret” Marine detachment in Vietnam 1963.
The Secret Soldiers of Vietnam
by Mason Stewart
While eating lunch at a famous St. Simons Island barbeque pit the other day, I overheard several guys sitting at a table near me discussing the Vietnam War. “And what did you do in the war?” one fellow asked the group. One guy said he was with the seventh Marines who came ashore at Chu Lai in 1965. Another said he was a Navy aviator flying jets off the carrier Oriskany. Then another said rather vaguely, “I can’t talk about it.”
“That’s a curious answer,” I thought. It covers a wide range of possibilities. Does it mean “I can’t talk about it because I avoided the war through deferments or connections and am now ashamed to admit it?” Or does it mean “I can’t talk about it because I was so traumatized that there is no language to really describe the chaos and carnage I witnessed?” While these two disparate answers each deserve further consideration, it is a third possibility that intrigued me the most. Could “I can’t talk about it” really mean “I can’t talk about it because it was then (and may still be) a secret?”
Wars have always generated secrets that cannot be publicly discussed. Among the most important of these have been those involving methods for knowing the exact location of an enemy, his fighting strength, and his immediate intentions. Being able to obtain this critical intelligence information in a reliable and timely manner is often the difference between
victory and defeat. Without it, armies are blind and often ill prepared for battle when it occurs. Examples abound throughout history of intelligence victories and failures that determined the fate of not only armies, but of nations.
The author in Phu Bai, Vietnam, 1963.
buildup to the Battle of the Bulge was disastrous and nearly changed the course of the war. On the positive side of things, the secret code breakers of WWII who broke both the German and Japanese wartime codes probably shortened the war by months, if not years.
The importance of obtaining this level of intelligence was not lost on the Vietnam era commanders. However, many of the traditional methods used to glean such intelligence no longer worked when the enemy presented no defined fighting front or regular unit structure. In the decentralized jungle warfare of Vietnam, new methods had to be developed to solve the old problems of locating the enemy, assessing their strength, and developing a course of action to defeat their intentions.
Drawing on techniques developed by such fabled groups as the Allied coast watchers and British Long Range desert groups of WWII, a new type of U.S. soldier was created: a secret soldier, who if need be, could fight like a demon, but whose major weapon was his ability to secretly penetrate the jungle cover, locate the enemy, and move stealthily amongst them with almost complete invisibility.
These largely unknown secret soldiers with strange monikers like SOGs, LURPs, Recondos, and Snake Eaters, not only gathered critical secret intelligence on a daily basis, but, through bloody trial and error (and always at great personal risk) developed many of the special techniques and methods currently used by our Special Operations warriors of today.
Working in small groups of about five or six men, highly trained Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol groups (LLRPS, pronounced LURPS) would typically be inserted deep inside Viet Cong territory and then, completely isolated and unsupported, spend days stealthily gathering critical “eyes on” intelligence that was then relayed back to information-hungry area commanders. Other highly classified SOG (Studies and Observation Group sounds innocuous, doesn’t it?!) teams, when not on intelligence gathering missions, were tasked with capturing enemy prisoners and rescuing downed pilots. RECONDO (Reconnaissance Trained Ranger Commando) groups often teamed up with indigenous Degar “Montagnard” fighters, affectionately known as “Snake Eaters” to form quick reaction strike forces or LRRP teams. If any of these groups were spotted or discovered by the Viet Cong, their only option was to try to fight their way out to a pre-arranged pickup point where an incredibly brave chopper pilot would risk his life to get them out. Sadly, sometimes that just was not possible.
Generally less exposed to direct enemy contact but more secretive “non-existent” signal intelligence units known as “Spooks” worked quietly to locate and monitor enemy activity and intentions. Some of these Spook units were actually among the first American “boots on the ground” in Vietnam, and sadly, among the earliest casualties. One (Army Sp-4 James Davis) was killed in an ambush on December 22, 1961 and is listed on the first panel of “The Wall” in Washington, DC.
The intelligence gathered by these secret soldiers was not only used to locate and destroy key enemy targets, but was often passed on to other groups with equally strange names like Seals, Ravens, and River Rats who carried out other un-talked about classified missions.
Much of this unpublicized part of the Vietnam war is slowly being de-classified and finding its way into the history books, but because of the “need to know” classification rules of certain
intelligence gathering sources and methods, some of the incredible stories of our secret soldiers may stay off limits permanently and thus, never be told.
Oh, and what did I do in the war? Well, not nearly as much as the incredible guys I have been discussing. But, I didn’t skip it. Nor did I get thrust into the chaotic meat grinder of bloody combat. Instead, in 1963 and again in 1965, I was part of a Marine detachment deployed to Vietnam to work with a unit that did not “officially” exist, so I guess, really … I can’t talk about it.
What I can talk about though, is that as we approach this Memorial Day, we should all proudly honor the memory of all of American’s heroic men and women who gave their all and paid the ultimate sacrifice when answering the call to duty. And this year, let’s also give a special tip of the flag to those secret Soldiers, Marines, Air Men and Sailors who “can’t talk about it,” not because it may still be classified, but because they never came home.
– WITH HONOR –
On Saturday, May 7, another group of American heroes will receive special recognition for their service. Coastal Georgia Honor Flight will be transporting 55 WWII and Korean War veterans on a oncein-a-lifetime trip to the Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. that was built in their honor. The flight and trip costs each veteran nothing, and they are accompanied by volunteer guardians who help them throughout the day by pushing wheelchairs, assisting with loading/unloading, delivering lunch, and being a trusted companion.
Coastal Georgia Honor Flight was established in 2014 as a local hub of the national non-profit organization Honor Flight. Because the average age of WWII veterans is 90 years old and they are dying at a rate of approximately 640 a day, Honor Flight believes it is imperative to make this “dream trip” a reality for these distinguished and deserving members of “The Greatest Generation.” The day’s itinerary for the veterans includes an early morning arrival at the Brunswick Golden Isles airport for breakfast and a 7:00 a.m. departure, a bus ride from Baltimore followed by tours of the WWII, Air Force, Iwo Jima, Korean and Vietnam War Memorials, and Arlington National Cemetery. After this full and certainly emotional day, our local heroes will return to Brunswick at approximately 10:00 p.m. The community is invited to don patriotic attire and come out to the airport from 9:30-10:30 p.m. to welcome the group back to the airport as a further expression of our gratitude for their service and their value to our nation.
If you would like to assist Coastal Georgia Honor Flight in other ways, donations are always welcome to defray trip costs. Each flight costs approximately $80,000 and is funded entirely by donations, so that there is no charge to our veterans. President of Coastal (continues)
SHOES STUART WEITZMAN • DONALD PLINER
ICON • KATE SPADE • AMALFI
GENTLE SOULS • MICHAEL KORS • MEPHISTO NAÖT • JACK ROGERS • MARC JOSEPH
FRENCH SOLE • TONI PONS
WONDERS • AUDLEY
SESTO MEUCCI • VANELI • ERIC JAVITS • GEOX
THE FLEXX • CLOUD
APPAREL FRANK LYMAN • HANRO
LYSSE • GERRY WEBER
ACCESSORIES M.Z. WALLACE • LODIS • SUZI ROHR
ERIC JAVITS • MICHAEL KORS
3419 Frederica Road, St Simons Island 912.638.1413
Monday-Saturday 10:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Georgia Honor Flight, Inc., Dave Olender, sayas “The Coastal Georgia community sponsors and donors who have made this year’s flight possible are greatly appreciated, but Coastal Georgia Honor Flight could still use more help. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated.” Donations may be made to Coastal Georgia Honor Flight, Inc., P.O. Box 2837, Brunswick, GA 31521 or by credit card via Paypal online at coastalgeorgiahonorflight.org. There is also more information on the website about signing up to act as a volunteer or guardian on Honor Flight trips. It’s a truly gratifying thing to be able to give back to those gave so much for us.
– IN REMEMBRANCE –
On Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, the Veterans Council of the Golden Isles invites you to honor those brave men and women who served our country but are with us no longer by attending the Memorial Day remembrance ceremony at the Veterans War Memorial located near the Historic Glynn County Courthouse at 10:30 a.m. They also present the Veterans Council Patriot of the Year Award, in addition to hearing from distinguished guest speakers. The event is free and open to the public. That evening, thousands of St. Simons Island residents and island visitors will flock to Neptune Park for the St. Simons Island Rotary’s 26th annual Taps at Twilight Memorial Day observance. The program begins at 6:45 p.m. at the St. Simons Island Casino. Honorable David Purdue, United States Senator for Georgia, is this year’s keynote speaker. Rabbi Rachael Bregman of Temple Beth Tefilloh in Brunswick will deliver the invocation. Also in attendance will be Dr. Greg Aloia, President of the College of Coastal Georgia. Jennifer Broadus, President of the St. Simons Island Rotary Club will officiate the program. Entertainment will be provided by the full complement of the Golden Isles Community Concert Band with accompaniment from the Men’s Chorus, conducted by Rhonda Hambright. Rhonda will sing the National Anthem and lead a medley of patriotic arrangements for the audience’s enjoyment. As is always the tradition, a full color guard from the United States Marine Corp will officiate in the placement of a ceremonial wreath at Veteran’s Walk. The ceremony will honor all of the men and women who have fallen in the service of our country, those who have valiantly served and returned, and those who are serving today. A single bugle will close the ceremony with a solemn herald of “Taps.” The Taps at Twilight tribute began in 1991 and has been repeated each year by the St. Simons Island Rotary Club as a gift to the community. Admission is free, and all are invited. The St. Simons Island Rotary will be selling Ameri-
Taps at Twilight committee can flags and memorial bricks for the Veteran’s Walk at Neptune Park before and after the ceremony. Come down early with your chairs and a picnic dinner to grab a prime spot, because the park fills up quickly. It’s the perfect way to observe the holiday and celebrate the spirit of our community.
