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>> I came back from Korea, Bloody Ridge, Heartbreak Ridge,
got out of the military, very bored.
Come by the post office about 10 o'clock in the morning,
my Uncle Sam picked up, "We need you."
I said, "You know, I'm going to go back."
And I went back and there were about five or six guys in line.
They said, "Well, you had service men?"
I said, "Yeah."
He said, "What were you on?"
I said, "I was infantry."
And he says, "Well, you're in the Army up to date."
And then I joined Special Forces and I stayed 59 until 71
in Special Forces.
>> We had what I call the interview and I had put
down all kinds of things that I thought I could be
in the Army including combat photographer and combat artist
because these are things I had training in.
I had driven trucks.
I put down truck driver.
And he just looked through and he said,
"I'm putting you down for medic."
I just kind of sat there like, "What?"
You know, I'd never had a first aid course.
I hated the sight of blood.
He says, "Oh, we need a lot of medics in Vietnam.
Next." >> Because I was Special
Forces, what was then referred to generically as a Green
Beret, I'd heard whispers about something called SOG.
Whenever I'd ask someone, "Well, what is that SOG thing?"
They'd all hush up or give me stern looks
because these were men who'd already served.
A friend of mine who'd already deployed to Vietnam
and was serving in SOG although I didn't know it,
told me, "Sign up for CCN."
Later, we used to refer to that kind
of imitation as a flattery of death.
We lost a great many men.
>> We set up bases.
We start training the mountain yards or the civilians
and they got paid a little bit, you know, to them.
It was quite a bit, but-- and we issued uniforms.
We issued weapons, trained American tactics and so forth,
recon and patrolling, security, an A-team with a bunch
of your company mountain yards and we'd operate out of there
and it was more or less a kind of eyes and ears
for intelligence of the movement of the enemy.
>> Working with the mountain yards helped give me a lot
of insights on the American Indian
because they were basically the American Indians
of Southeast Asia pushed to be a mountain people
and mountain yard means in French, mountain people.
I was flown by C-132 a SOG base in the Central Highlands,
adjacent to the northernmost provinces of Cambodia
and the southernmost provinces of Laos.
And for the first time, it struck me, my God,
that's what the big secret is.
We're operating in Laos.
We're running missions along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
These are very, very dangerous missions
where literally you have two Americans
and some indigenous soldiers, mountain yards, and you're 20,
30, 40 miles behind enemy lines.
If you don't have someone you really want to rely on
and trust virtually with your life,
you don't want to run your team.
>> They said that if anyone wanted to volunteer,
we could go into the mountain yard villages
and treat the mountain yards.
It was such a different culture.
It was getting in a time machine and taking a trip back
almost to the Stone Age.
I just found it enjoyable to go out there and work with them.
I couldn't talk to them, but we treated everything
you can imagine.
>> In the A camp, a lot of times they had their celebrations.
Then they set up a roll of jojo, rice wine.
And you being the commander of the honor, you got to sit there
and you got to drink with them.
Oh, man.
Man, sometimes you like to, when they're going
to have you, you like to hide.
But you can't.
But boy, I'll tell you.
>> This isn't the only reason that I kept wanting to go back
to their villages.
But as soon as you're all done treating everybody,
then we can get to the num pay, which is rice wine.
I do have to admit, it gave you a pretty good buzz
by the time you headed out of the camp.
>> They loved American movies, especially the cowboy movies.
And it was funny because if it was a cowboy Indian movie,
they would identify with the Indians.
>> They liked westerns.
Oh, boy.
They hollered and screamed.
They'd tickle you to death.
Yeah, they were all right, though.
>> I really believe they kind of looked out for us
because we'd patrol in some of the same areas.
And one time, there were a bunch of mountain yards
that were coming up, and they kind of cowered
over to the other side.
And then somebody must have recognized me.
And all at once, they get up and they come running over
and shaking hands and bowing.
And so I knew that they knew who I was.
And I think when they know that you're with that patrol,
I think maybe you're a little safer.
>> The mountain yards worked really well, meshed really well
with special forces in these operations
because they'd grown up in the jungle.
And we brought the sophistication
of modern warfare, communications,
air support, and so on.
And working together, it made a very effective team
at operating behind enemy lines in a very unforgiving
environment.
In fact, of the 22 missions that I ran in SOG,
19 of them we had to shoot our way out.
>> They were very good fighters.
I mean, we relied on them.
You had to figure 10 percent you were training with VETCOM,
but you don't know who.
You just had to kind of watch, you know.
There were some bad times.
You forget the bad times, remember the good times.
>> We came back to one village one time.
It was deserted.
Nobody was out.
The chief finally came out, and his face looked
like somebody had taken a baseball bat to it.
The VC had come in, and in front of all the other villagers,
had beat him as an example of what'll happen
if you let the Americans treat you.
Even though we were trying to help them,
I think they were caught in the middle.
I think a lot of times they probably didn't have a choice
of who they supported if they wanted to stay alive.
>> I have a recurring dream where I go back to Vietnam,
my team's still there, and they have all my gear.
They're so happy to see me back there.
And it's all the old yards.
I don't know, maybe it's like an old dog ready
to go hunting again or something,
but they're ready to go do it again.
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