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Operation Tailwind

Southern Laos, September 1970

On June 7, 1988, Time and CNN broke a story in which it was alleged that "the United States used lethal nerve gas during a mission to kill American defectors in Laos during the Vietnam War in 1970." Specifically, it was alleged that members of the Studies and Observations Group (SOG), a top secret unit made up primarily of US Army Special Forces soldiers, participated in Operation Tailwind, a mission targeting defectors from the US military and residing in a village along the Laotian border (Note: The actual mission of Tailwind was a reconnaissance in force to engage the enemy and to divert enemy attention from OPERATION GAUNTLET, an offensive operation to regain control of terrain in Laos.). The accuracy of this story was called into question by numerous organizations, the Department of Defense, and military veterans, including former members of SOG. Following an official review by DoD, and CNN, this story was retracted.

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Comments

Following are comments by Maj. John Plaster, a former Special Forces NCO who served 36 months with SOG. Major Plaster is also the author of SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam (published by Simon and Schuster). These comments are reprinted with the permission of Maj. Plaster.

FROM: John Plaster

SUBJECT: CNN Allegations of Gas Warfare and the Killing of American Defectors by SOG Personnel

1. The report aired last night on CNN's "Newstand" is filled with distruths, half-truths, rumors, and mistakes. In contrast to what CNN alleged,

A. The Studies and Observations Group (SOG) never employed nerve agent in combat;

B. American defectors were not targeted on SOG's 1970 Operation Tailwind, and no such defectors were killed on this operation.

2. My Personal Experience: As a Special Forces NCO, I spent 36 months in SOG: Two years as a SOG Long Range Recon Team Leader (1968-70), operating in Southern Laos and Northern Cambodia, and a third year as an Airborne Controller (1970-71) accumulating 450 combat flights aboard USAF FACs over Southern Laos calling air strikes on a daily basis. I am intimately aware of the U.S. ordinance employed in Laos and at some time or other, directed the delivery of almost every non-nuclear, air-dropped ordinance in the U.S. inventory. At no point did we ever employ nerve gas; however, on rare occasions we did employ CBU-19 tear gas bomblets.

3. My Historical Research: In addition to serving in SOG, I spent two full years researching available records and interviewing nearly 100 SOG Veterans so I could author a history of this organization. My book, SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam, was published last year by Simon & Schuster. The true story of Operation Talwind is contained in my history, pp. 263-71.

4. Another Researcher Who Can Verify My Findings: Under DoD contract, Professor Richard Shultz of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, has spent three years researching SOG for a strategic policy study. He has had unfettered access to all available SOG documents, classified and unclassified, as well as interviewed every significant military and CIA official ever involved in SOG. I am certain his findings will support my own.

5. CNN's Earlier Attempt to Smear SOG: During a CNN Impact show in September, 1997, there was a purposeful fuzzying of the distinction between SOG's employment of non-lethal CS gas, and toxic chemical agents such as nerve gas. After claiming that when used in high concentrations, tear gas is deadly, the narrator began referring to tear gas as a "potentially lethal gas", then a "lethal gas". The viewer could no longer tell that the gas in question was mere tear gas - it was a "potentially lethal gas" with all those evil connotations.

6. The Credibility of Robert Van Buskirk: He is the CNN story's sole source for claims that American defectors were present, whom he killed, and that their killing was the major objective of this operation. Further, he seems to be the primary source for claims that nerve gas was used. In about 1990, Buskirk authored a book about this mission, Tailwind, in which neither claim ever appeared - indeed, at that time the thrust of his claim was that this operation had been a disaster (which it had not), and was almost scapegoated. Back in the 1970s, Robert Van Buskirk was arrested, charged and jailed in Germany for nearly a year -- but he was not convicted. Although the charges were very serious (armed robbery, terrorism and possession of a weapon of mass destruction), after a lengthy time in jail awaiting trial, the prosecutor finally offered to drop charges if he immediately left Germany, which he did.

His book gives the false impression that he was more than a mere lieutenant, just another of several platoon leaders under the company commander Captain Eugene McCarley. Van Buskirk's book was published by the Christian Press as a testament to how he had been Born Again - in the 1970s, he was arrested, convicted, and imprisoned on illegal weapons charges in West Germany. As I recall it, the specific charge was either smuggling or illicitly selling fully-automatic weapons, and he spent several years in a German prison. (His book admits, but minimizes his criminal conviction).

7. The Credibility of Jay Graves: During the CNN piece, a short clip was run of Jay Graves, a former Special Forces NCO, who seemed to agree that nerve agent was employed on SOG operations. However, Jay Graves did not serve in SOG - SOG was a compartmented, top secret unit - so he had no personal knowledge whatsoever on this subject. His (erroneous) opinion was presented as if it were factual, first-hand experience. Jay (whom I know and respect personally), ran recon not in SOG but in Project Delta, running missions inside South Vietnam. He was not on Operation Tailwind, had nothing at all to do with Tailwind. (I'm starting to get second-hand feedback that he was taken in by CNN and his comments were manipulatively placed beside questions not asked of him in the orginal interview. He has told another SFer that he's very upset to have been presented this way by CNN.) For about six months in 1970, Jay Graves was a Recon School (One-Zero School) instructor at SOG's Camp Long Thanh, serving with Detachment B-53, definitely a SOG element. I'm not sure what CNN was up to by seeming to put him on the operation -- I personally phoned the Tailwind commander, Capt. McCarley to confirm that Jay was not there, to which McCarley emphatically verified. Jay was not there, and he never ran recon in SOG. He's a (respected) former Project Delta recon man.

8. The Technical Impossibility: Gas masks were not sufficient protection against the nerve agents (Tabun & Sarin) of this era, but masks were suited for operating in CS (tear) gas, which is the agent that actually was employed. Merely putting U.S ground personnel and aircrews in gas masks still left the rest of their bodies exposed and even one drop of nerve agent is fatal.

9. The Illogic of It All: The military benefit of employing nerve agent could not possibly balance the potential political fallout for its use. What compelling reason would there have been to employ nerve agent at this time, mere months after Kent State, during the height of the anti-war movement?

10. Confusion About CBU-19: Much of this affair, I am convinced, arose over confusion about the admitted use of CBU-19 non-lethal CS gas, and the existence of CBU-15, which apparently contained a nerve agent. I flew hundreds of missions in support of SOG elements, in Laos and Cambodia, and on several occasions directed the employment of CBU-19, but never even once had the possibility of employing CBU-15 been suggested. Put simply, nerve agent never was used and it was not available on-call even if we'd wanted to use it.

The story is wrong.

JOHN L. PLASTER

MAJOR, Special Forces

USAR, (Ret.)

TO: mruppert@copvcia.com
FROM: sfahq@aol.com


Dear Mr. Ruppert,

This is in response to your article entitled "Moorer deposition in "Tailwind" suits confirms allegations of Sarin use against Vietnam defectors, POW's- incriminates CIA, Kissinger".
As director of the Special Forces Association investigation of the CNN horrific program "Valley of Death, Operation Tailwind", produced by April Oliver and Jack Smith, and having access to a footlocker full of evidence, letters, statements, interviews, video Tapes, audio tapes, photos, maps, etc, I believe myself to be fully qualified to respond to your interpretation of Admiral Moorer's deposition.
First let me correct some remarks made in your opening statements. One, you stated that the CIA directed "Operation Tailwind". Dead wrong Mr. Ruppert, "Operation Tailwind" was directed by OP 35 of MACV-SOG and executed by B Company, FOB 2, CCC, and SOG. Two, you stated that there was a series of Tailwind missions. Dead wrong Mr. Ruppert; there was only one "Operation Tailwind" it was conducted in the vicinity of Chavane, Laos on 11-14 September 1970. Three, you stated that SOG was then commanded by CIA veteran and Army General John Singlaub. Dead wrong Mr. Ruppert, SOG was commanded by Col. John "Skip" Sadler who obtained permission for and ordered "Operation Tailwind" be conducted. John Singlaub commanded SOG from 1966 to 1968.
Now to the deposition of Admiral Moorer held on 24 June 2000 from 9:14 am to 17:34:25 pm. That's right, 88 year old Admiral Moorer was questioned for over eight hours with only three short breaks (To change tapes and pass out documents) and one short lunch break. From tape marking 0014 to marking 0217, Admiral Moorer answered direct questions concerning the use of Sarin gas and the targeting of defectors over 55 times with one word, NO! Also, during this same tape marking, over fifty times the Admiral wandered over on other questions and had to be asked the question again or did not understand the question.
From Tape marking 0218 to marking 0365, Mr. Simmons, April Oliver's Attorney, conducted his interrogation (The other attorneys called it an ambush) of Admiral Moorer. During this interrogation, Mr. Simmons handed the Admiral documents of April Oliver's off camera interviews and memoranda from the JCS office that Moorer had not seen or remembered seeing before this time. The Admiral asked to be allowed to take the documents home and study them before answering questions pertaining to them. Mr. Simmons denied his requests over the protests of other attorneys present. The Admiral was then directed by Mr. Simmons to read the questions of April Oliver and his response to those questions, and then Mr. Simmons would ask the Admiral if those questions and answers seemed to be correct. During this interrogation the other attorneys present objected to Mr. Simmons questioning and his presentation of documents not available prior to the deposition. This should give the readers a background on the ambush of Admiral Moorer.
You stated in your article "both Singlaub and Moorer denied that they had used the gas or brought it any closer to Southeast Asian operations than the island of Okinawa. Yet according to admissions made by Moorer near the end of the deposition, as much as 300 pounds of the gas was stored at a secret CIA controlled Thai Air\Operations base called Nakhorn Phanom or NKP". (The correct spelling is Nakhon Phanom). ON TAPE MARKING 0298 Admiral Moorer is reading a question by April Oliver in off-camera interview: Q. "If the U.S. used nerve gas in combat in Vietnam, is it worthy to report". A. Admiral Moorer reads a very lengthy reply and states "so this would include GB weaponized in the U.S. Arsenal. We know there was 4 million pounds of it manufactured and it was stocked at NKP". Later on in the Admiral's reading of the same document, April Oliver asked, "So you were aware Sarin gas was used". A. Admiral Moorer read his answer "I am not confirming for you that it was used. You have told me that". (April Oliver must have smiled at this answer, that smile would soon leave her face during later testimony). ON TAPE 0352, Mr. Simmons asks the question "You have referred, and there's a reference in these two interviews (April Oliver's interviews with Admiral Moorer), to NKP. Was that Nakhorn Phanom (Spelled wrong again) in Thailand?" Admiral Moorer's answer "No, that's in Okinawa". (April Oliver's smile now leaves her face). It is obvious to everyone; Admiral Moorer thought NKP was in Okinawa. Admiral Moorer's stated throughout this deposition that Sarin gas was stored on Okinawa, he knew that much, but he didn't know where in the hell NKP was, Okinawa, Korea, Thailand, wherever. The Special Forces Association has documented evidence that Sarin gas was only stored on Okinawa until the decision was made to destroy the gas on the Johnson Islands. Special storage facilities were necessary for Sarin gas and special handling and equipment were needed. NO such facilities were available in Vietnam or Thailand.

You stated in your article "Mr. Simmons secured a basic admission (hum--basic admission) from Moorer that the Tailwind missions in to Laos was controlled by Henry Kissinger and the CIA not the Pentagon". Maybe so Mr. Ruppert, but it "taint so". Lets visit a moment with documented SOG history. On 1 November 1963, President Kennedy ordered that the CIA covert operation programs in Vietnam be transferred to the Military. On 24 January 1964 the Studies and Observations Group (SOG) was formed to conduct these missions and reported directly to the JCS, via a special liaison, SACSA. Then in 1969, the President directed a new program, Vietnamization. To insure this program could progress without constant enemy interruptions, the President directed that SOG activities be increased in Laos and Cambodia. This directive changed the rules. Now SOG could conduct operations, up to company size, with approval of MACV (General Abrams) and notification to the American Ambassador in Laos and CINCPAC. THE CIA HAD NOT HAD OPERATIONAL CONTROLL OVER COVERT OPERATIONS SINCE 1963. Certainly, JCS was presented with up-dates on all operations, BUT NOT CONTROLL.
Concerning the Memoranda documents, entered as evidence by Mr. Simmons. There were five documents given to the Admiral but Mr. Simmons only had specific questions on one, DOD 01159, dated 11 September 1970. This Memo was addressed to DJS (Director of Joint Staff) with a hand printed 9\11 and the following words "Hold until President settles issue. Moorer". Why only this document and not the other four? When taken in context, the five documents tell a story that Mr. Simmons would not have liked, he only wanted one answer, and so he only directed tough questions to this memo. Mr. Simmons asked the powerful question "As you sit here today, what issue can you think of regarding Operation Tailwind that would have required Presidential approval". Admiral Moorer answered " Any operation that involved the use of poison gas, for instance". Wahoo! That's the answer Mr. Simmons wanted, however, the operative words in that answer were "For instance". Those two words indicate that there was more than one case, on that mission, that would possibly need Presidential approval. The five memoranda introduced at this deposition, give at least one more reason for a Presidential decision. (There are several more to include employment of nuclear weapons). DOD 01158 is a very important document, it was received on 5 September 1970, the original date for "Operation Tailwind" infiltration and forwarded from the JCS to be returned to the Chairman with remarks from DJSM recommend release on 9 September 1970. This document covered 4 subjects (1) Number of Americans on this operation (2) CINCPAC and MACV had not received all the information on expanded Prairie Fire Operations (3) the suggestion that targets west of the EXISTING PF line would be favorably considered on a case by case basis (4) To inform CINCPAC\MACV of Sec. Def. position regarding use of U.S. personnel in PF exploitation phase. It is obvious that CINCPAC\MACV were not fully informed of U.S. policy changes, policy changes that the President had made and a new suggested area of operation, west of the approved Prairie Fire line. Both of these concerns could require a Presidential decision. DOD 01157 tells of "Operation Tailwind" supporting "Operation Gauntlet". Mr. Simmons did not want to talk about that operation, did he Mr. Ruppert. We know why, Operation Gauntlet was a CIA\Hmong operation on the Bolevens Plateau and Operation Tailwind was to divert enemy troops, supplies and equipment from that operation. DOD 0155 is the "I got you" memo. Mr. Simmons presented these 5 documents into the records to show Operation Tailwind was involved, However, this document shows a 14 September 1970 date, subject: Operation Tailwind, From the Director for Operations, to the Director, Joint Staff "Recommend the attached memorandum be approved, signed and returned to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff". As of this date, 14 September 1970, nothing had been approved. Lets give the Pentagon credit for dedication and say they were at the office by 0700 hours, what time was it in Laos Mr. Ruppert? You got it, Laos\Vietnam time 11 hours ahead of Washington, DC. It was 1800 hours on 14 September 1970 and the Operation Tailwind participants had already been extracted from Laos, were back at FOB2 in Kontum, Vietnam, had a beer or two, treated for wounds received in action and cleaned up all the blood, dirt and mud. TOO LATE MR. RUPPERT FOR ANY DECISION TO HAVE AFFECTED OPERATION TAILWIND IN ANY WAY! SORRY, PLEASE DO NOT WEEP.
April Oliver's "Contemporaneous notes" on her interviews with Admiral Moorer need no rebuttal. On each subject, defectors or nerve gas, she began with statements that were hypothetical or suggestive. Thus, the Admiral's answers were also hypothetical and suggestive. The Admiral NEVER stated that Defectors were targeted and Sarin gas was used on Operation Tailwind.
Mr. Ruppert, you listed eight confirmations that were made by Admiral Moorer, Let me close with this statement: Of the eight you listed only one was correct, Operation Tailwind was successful, the Hatchet Force destroyed an enemy ammo complex, engaged the NVA in nine (9) separate fire fights and won, attacked and destroyed a NVA base camp, captured critical enemy documents and diverted enemy troops from the CIA "Operation Gauntlet". The courageous Special Forces soldiers and Montagnards from SOG, Marine\ Air Force Pilots and Crewmen, deserve praise for their bravery and devotion to duty, not to be accused of war crimes as April Oliver and CNN attempted to do with this horrific program. A program that the American Public did not believe and CNN could not support. 
In conclusion, April Oliver and CNN made three (3) allegations in their program " Valley of Death"; (1) defectors were targeted, (2) Sarin Gas was used, (3) and women and children were killed. All three are lies. No defectors were in the NVA Base Camp, Sarin gas was never used to "prep" The Base Camp or the extraction and no women or children were killed on this operation. The SFA has documented evidence that these allegations are false. CNN and April Oliver have no documented evidence. That is why there will never be a case that goes to trial. The SFA has obtained the services of an independent production company for airing of "Operation Tailwind, The Real Story". The production should be released this winter. Look for it Mr. Rupert and if you can force yourself to watch, it should be an educational and emotional experience.



James Dean

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