Legendary adventurer and raconteur Robin Moore has teamed up with third-generation Army officer Michael “Doc” Lennon to share the stories of the soldiers who have earned the right to wear the Green Beret. From Vietnam to the present day, The Wars of the Green Berets retells the stranger-than-fiction, hair-raising experiences of the stout men who have risked it all, from their firefights on the Cambodian border to their present-day patrols on the dangerous streets of Baghdad. It takes us to the streets of Mogadishu in the days before and after the events of Black Hawk Down . It puts us on the rocky moonscapes of Afghanistan in search of the enemy, where soldiers face the dangers of friendly fire as well as fierce Taliban fighters. Featuring a new foreword by a former Green Beret about the continued efforts and role Special Forces play in modern warfare, this is a work of fiction that is more real than many works of history. It’s destined to become a classic. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home. Robin Moore is the bestselling author of The French Connection and The Hunt for Bin Laden , as well as more than thirty other novels and nonfiction books. He is the only civilian ever to go through the Special Forces Qualification (“Q”) course. Lieutenant Commander Michael B. “Doc” Lennon has served on active and reserve duty since 1982. Scott Neil retired in 2010 as the senior enlisted adviser to the director of US Special Operation Command’s Interagency Task Force (IATF) after serving for twenty-five years, with seventeen years in the Army Special Forces, better known as the Green Berets. Scott has conducted numerous successful special operation combat missions, including hostage rescue, direct action, and unconventional warfare, and was one of the first to lead the charge into Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Horn of Africa. His access and intimate associations with all levels of counter terrorism, unconventional warfare, and special operations science and technologies have provided him with tremendous insights into the policies, actions, and activities that drove successful outcomes during the war. Today, Scott serves as the director of strategic development for the Green Beret Foundation. The Wars of the Green Berets Amazing Stories from Vietnam to the Present By Robin Moore, Michael Lennon Skyhorse Publishing Copyright © 2007 Robin Moore and Michael Lennon All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-63450-416-4 Contents Foreword, Preface, Prologue, BOOK ONE: Vietnam, 1970, BOOK TWO: The Persian Gulf, 1991, BOOK THREE: Somalia, 1993, BOOK FOUR: Afghanistan, 2001, BOOK FIVE: Iraq, 2003, Epilogue, Taps, Military Glossary, Additional Reading, Acknowledgments, CHAPTER 1 To pour money, material, and men into the jungles of Indochina without at least a remote prospect of victory would be dangerously futile and self-destructive. — John Fitzgerald Kennedy April 6, 1954 speech Like most seventeen-year-olds, Mike Apin was consumed with his transition from the adolescent to the adult world, and in 1968 he paid scant attention to the growing conflict in Southeast Asia. His world revolved around a neat, manicured middle-class neighborhood in a suburb of Washington, DC. Football, baseball, basketball, beer (when they could get it), and girls (not necessarily in that order) commanded much of his attention. Mike drove a blue 1965 Mustang that his father had bought him, and he loved that car. With a 289 high performance engine and a Holly 4-barrel carburetor, he could really haul ass. Friday and Saturday nights usually started at a party or the drive-in, and ended at the McDonald's in Forest Heights, Maryland. In those days, there were no indoor seats at McDonald's (300,000 hamburgers sold) so you got your food and ate in your car. The local cop, "One Bullet Barney" as they called him, was usually around to enforce the no-loitering rule so singles and couples hopped from car to car to socialize. Mike had a cute girlfriend, one of the junior varsity cheerleaders, and was a regular with several loose social groups. They had grown up with the Mickey Mouse Club, Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, and Mike's favorite TV show, Sea Hunt. Mike and his best friend, Dennis, who turned eighteen within a week of Mike, went down to register for the draft at the county seat in Upper Marlboro on a cold drizzly Fe