“Your past never forgets you.” – Dan Blakeley The first thing that struck me about Dan is that he’s incredibly easy to talk to. Some special operations guys have a reputation for being a little standoffish or having a larger-than-life ego, not Dan. Yet, he endured some of the most demanding military training there is to More »
Book review
First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA to Avenge 9/11- Review
Looking for the Perfect Christmas Gift or Reading Material? Look No Further Award-winning author Toby Harnden has crafted an incredible story of the first Americans to enter Afghanistan immediately after 9/11. His book, “First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA to Avenge 9/11,” was initially slated to be released on the 20th anniversary of More »
The Giant Killer: A Fascinating Look at the Smallest Green Beret in History
The Green Berets, the U.S. Army’s Special Forces, are the military’s premier unconventional warriors. And Richard Flaherty was, perhaps, the most unconventional Green Beret warrior to ever serve. Flaherty served with the 101st Airborne during Vietnam. He was awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts. After Vietnam, he did contract work More »
Book Review – “Murphy’s Law” And the Truth Will Set You Free
I always balk at when someone I know writes something and I’m asked to give an opinion on it. As my circle of friends has grown smaller, I have erred on the side of caution, not wanting to hurt any of my friends’ feelings. Jack Murphy has never had that problem. Jack has been on More »
Trapped at Pearl Harbor: Escape from the Battleship Oklahoma
Book Review: On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands was a quiet place as the sun came up. Many of the sailors along Battleship Row were feeling the effects of being on liberty ashore drinking which ended at midnight. At dawn, there was a sleepy, Sunday feel to the morning, not much More »
War Story by Jim Morris Is the Definitive Special Forces Book on Vietnam
This book is dedicated to anybody whoever died for something he believed in, whether he was right or not. The difference between a fairy tale and a war story, is that a fairy tale starts out with “Once upon a time,” and a war story starts out with, “This is no shit.” Before you More »
“The Secret War Against Hanoi”, A Must-Read Book On SOG
When researching the works of the secretive Studies and Observation Group (SOG) during the war in Vietnam, Richard H. Schultz Jr. digs through their papers in an exhaustive and sprawling piece of work. While critical of much their work, especially in the matter of inserting foreign agents into North Vietnam, Schultz’s admiration for the warriors More »
Operation Halyard, One of the Great Rescue Stories of WWII
Operation Halyard was the greatest rescue mission of American airmen in our history. And it was conducted by a three-man OSS (Office of Strategic Services) team dropped into Serbia that was occupied by the Germans. The OSS operatives linked up with Serbian “Chetniks” led by General Draža Mihailović in August of 1944. This three-man Halyard More »
Book Review: “War Stories of the Green Berets” by Hans Halberstadt
Frequently, we get emails or tweets here at SpecialOperations.com in the realm of questions about the training and the qualification course. Many of course deal with Selection and I have to tell people that the Instructors don’t actually kill anyone during the events and one doesn’t have to be 10-feet tall to pass. But one More »
Book Review: “The Double Agents” (Men at War #6) W.E.B. Griffin
I will be the first to say that I am always ready to read anything pertaining to the OSS in World War II and love the genre. I’ve read many of W.E.B. Griffin’s books and they follow along a same general outline. The plot and character development take up the vast majority of the novel More »