Without artillery support, without reinforcements, they turned a suicide mission into a success. Battered and depleted by the Vietcong guerrillas' sadistic style of warfare, allied intelligence unleashed their secret weapon: an experimental Army Special Forces unit that the government brass didn't know existed. They used the enemy's booby-trapped trails and grenade-in-you-backpack tactics in a sprawling mass of jungle. James C. Donahue, a member of Operation Blackjack-31, chronicles the treacherous trek through War Zone D by thirteen handpicked Green Berets who infiltrated the VC's "secret zone" and proved just how far determination can go.

Mobile Guerrilla Force: With The Special Forces In War Zone D

History

Donahue, James C.

Military

St. Martin's Paperbacks

The author relates his experiences as a member of the Mobile Guerrilla Force in Vietnam and recounts a day-long battle between Cambodian forces with their Green Beret advisors and the Viet Cong

No Greater Love: A Day with the Mobile Guerrilla Force in Vietnam

Signet

“You have to react instinctively. In this game there’s no second place, only the quick and the dead.” In Vietnam, Mobile Guerrilla Force conducted unconventional operations against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. Armed with silencer-equipped MK-II British Sten guns, M-16s, M-79s, and M-60 machine guns, the men of the Mobile Guerrilla Force operated in the steamy, triple-canopy jungle owned by the NVA and VC, destroying base camps, ambushing patrols, and gathering the intelligence that General Westmoreland desperately needed. In 1967, James Donahue was a Special Forces medic and assistant platoon leader assigned to the Mobile Guerrilla Force and their fiercely anti-Communist Cambodian freedom fighters. Their mission: to locate the 271st Main Force Viet Cong Regiment so they could be engaged and destroyed by the 1st Infantry Division. Now, with the brutal, unflinching honesty only an eye witness could possess, Donahue relives the adrenaline rush of firefights, air strikes, human wave attacks, ambushes, and attacks on enemy base camps. Following the operation the surviving Special Forces members of the Mobile Guerrilla Force were decorated by Major General John Hay, Commanding General, 1st Infantry Division.

Blackjack-33: With Special Forces in the Viet Cong Forbidden Zone

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

Presidio Press

“Here we go, I said to myself as my system electrified with the familiar rush of adrenaline.” On July 18, 1967, Staff Sergeant James Donahue and the men of Special Forces Detachment A-304 were on an operation; code-name Blackjack-34. Their mission: to find and engage an enemy battalion that was thought to be operating in an enemy-controlled area north of Quon Loi, Vietnam. Now Donahue bears witness to the horrific events of that day and the exceptional grit and heroism of his teammates. Blackjack-34 is a magnificent tribute to the warriors of the Mobile Guerrilla Force―their courage and willingness to press on, no matter what the odds.

Blackjack-34 (previously titled No Greater Love): One Deadly Day of Courage, Carnage, and Ultimate Sacrifice for the Mobile Guerrilla Force in Vietnam

Ballantine Books

"Here we go, I said to myself as my system electrified with the familiar rush of adrenaline." An elite unit armed to the teeth, the Mobile Guerrilla Force was America's only real guerrilla force in Vietnam. These men operated for weeks at a time--springing ambushes, destroying base camps, and gathering vital intelligence--in steamy, triple-canopied jungles ruled by the VC and NVA. On July 18, 1967, Special Forces medic James Donahue and his platoon were on a mission, code-named Blackjack-34, to locate enemy units for the 1st Infantry to destroy. But instead a crack enemy battalion found them. Now Donahue bears witness to the bloody events of that day and the exceptional grit and determination of his teammates. BLACKJACK-34 is a magnificent tribute to the warriors of Mobile Guerrilla Force--their courage, heroism, and willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice.

No Greater Love : A day with the Mobile Guerrilla Force in Vietnam

Daring

This authentic firsthand account of Operation Blackjack-31 chronicles the first foray of 13 hand-picked Green Berets and a company of free Cambodian guerrillas into War Zone D - the VC's secret zone about which allied intelligence knew little or nothing - in January 1967. Their orders were to conduct guerrilla operations for an undetermined period, without artillery support or possibility of reinforcement. Detachment A-303 turned the suicide mission into a dramatic success. With surgical precision and a novelist's grasp of dialogue, timing, and dramatic pacing, the author puts the reader on the ground with the force for 31 days without respite. A surprisingly fresh description of close-in combat, Donahue's account stands as a powerful testament to the few who mattered little in the big picture but who were all that mattered to each other. Blackjack-31 was a historic departure from the conventional military thinking that dominated the war in Vietnam, and it clearly demonstrated that American-led indigenous forces could conduct guerrilla operations against the enemy, and win.

Mobile Guerrilla Force: With the Special Forces in War Zone D (Naval Institute Special Warfare Series)

Asia

Naval Inst Pr

There have been many accounts of Special Forces operations in Vietnam, but none can match this book for intensity, insight, and drama, and for capturing the essence of special operations and the men who volunteer for them. The award-winning author was a member of the Mobile Guerrilla Force, an experimental Special Forces unit conceived to emulate the tactics of Viet Cong guerrillas.This authentic firsthand account of Operation Blackjack-31 chronicles the Force's first foray into War Zone D--the VC's secret zone about which allied intelligence knew little or nothing--in January 1967 when 13 hand-picked Green Berets and a company of free Cambodian guerrillas slipped into the VC secret zone. Their orders were to conduct guerrilla operations for an undetermined period, without artillery support or possibility of reinforcement. Detachment A-303 turned the suicide mission into a dramatic success.With surgical precision and a novelist's grasp of dialogue, timing, and dramatic pacing, the author puts the reader on the ground with the Force for 31 days without respite. A surprisingly fresh description of close-in combat, Donahue's account stands as a powerful testament to the few who mattered little in the big picture but who were all that mattered to each other. Blackjack-31 was a historic departure from the conventional military thinking that dominated the war in Vietnam and clearly demonstrated that American-led indigenous forces could conduct guerrilla operations against the enemy.

Mobile Guerrilla Force: With the Special Forces in War Zone D

Naval_Institute_Press

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