Spike Team Idaho's Tale of Courage on Christmas Day, 1968

Spike Team Idaho’s Tale of Courage on Christmas Day, 1968

by John Stryker Meyer · December 25, 2015

As we celebrate Christmas comfortably today, this is a story that reminds us all of the sacrifices special operators have made and continue to make in defense of our country. The following is an excerpt from “Across the Fence,” written by John Stryker Meyer.

Christmas Day 1968 was just another day for Spike Team Idaho. Early that morning, ST Idaho was loaded onto Kingbees and flown to the Quang Tri launch site. The early morning rush came to a halt at Quang Tri, as there was some sort of complication with our support elements.

About John Stryker Meyer

Born Jan. 19, 1946, John Stryker Meyer entered the Army Dec. 1, 1966, completed basic training at Ft. Dix, N.J., advanced infantry training at Ft. Gordon, Ga., jump school at Ft. Benning, Ga., and graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course in Dec. 1967. He arrived at FOB 1 Phu Bai in May 1968, where he joined Spike Team Idaho, which transferred to Command & Control North, CCN in Da Nang, January 1969. In October 1969 he rejoined RT Idaho at CCN. That tour of duty ended suddenly in April 1970. Today he is a program director at the Veterans Affordable Housing Program, based in Orange, CA and joined the SOFREP team of correspondents in March 2015. He has written two non-fiction books on SOG secret wars: Across The Fence: The Secret War in Vietnam - Expanded Edition, and Co-Authored On The Ground: The Secret War in Vietnam with John E. Peters, a member of RT Rhode Island. Meyer's website is: www.sogchronicles.com.

Also from John Stryker Meyer

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Michelle B
Thanks for this. A lot.
john p
I was curious Mr.Meyer what was Macv sog take on tet?were you in country during this and if so did you suspect something to happen? Just curious you don't hear much of what sog teams were doing during that break out.
mrspaul
Thank you!!! Imho, all who served in Vietnam are deserving of every bit of gratitude and respect that I have in me. Today, we have Special Mission Units whose roots can be traced to the Warriors in this era. Certainly the writings of Mr. Meyer are a superlative telling of the missions and men, and give a hint of the example of what these SMU's would become. God Bless You All!!!
Recon6
LOL, how true... now just Imagine trying to move, silently, through that grass with the Knowledge the little people are all around you and waiting.... guys like John are Amazing....6
Recon6
John, I read your books and encouraged others to do likewise, anyone interested in the Vietnam War will be amazed at the tales of Bravery and Sacrifice of the men of SOG.... I will ask, does anyone know what happened to men like CPT Tuong, and the other S. Vietnamese pilots who performed such incredible feats of Bravery ?? Were any of them taken with us on withdrawal ? I hope we didn't treat them in the same manner as so many of our allies, especially the 'Yards.....6