Across the Fence: Rescue mission with James Shorten

by John Stryker Meyer · December 4, 2017

[Editor’s Note: In the eight-year secret war fought by Green Berets during the Vietnam War across the fence in Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam from 1964-1972 under the aegis of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (SOG), no mission was more dangerous than a Bright Light Mission. Heavily-armed SOG recon teams were sent in to find downed pilots, relieve recon teams surrounded by enemy troops or to recover the dead and wounded. The Green Berets carried no food and only one canteen of water. The rest of their load consisted of weapons, ammunition, hand grenades, and sometimes body bags. This is the first in a series of SOFREP stories of what led to the Bright Light mission that haunts SOG Green Beret SSG James H. Shorten (Jones) to this day and drives him to return to Cambodia for an Air Force pilot left behind, who is among the 1,602 MIAs in Southeast Asia (SEA).]

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.

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Recon 6
Outstanding find Jh... if possible have him relate a few of those stories.. some of those guys were honestly Awesome !! Tilt has a few tales of such men also... some men just have no fear...and knowing you I have no doubt he will continue to trust you... hell, I do LOL...6
LPD256
6-I was taking to a Vietnamese client not long ago. Turns out he has an extreme high clearance from the US Govt based on a job he retired from here in the US. He was a helicopter pilot for the South Vietnamese Air Force. He never went over the fence, and he isn’t very talkative about it but he has some tales to tell. I hope he continues to trust me with them.
Recon6
Tilt.. as you know I Recommend anything you write !! I urge anyone interested in stories of the Greatest Warriors of America, do likewise... you will never be disappointed in content and will marvel at Men who were willing to give their lives for the 'mission and each other'... I've waited a very long time for another series on SOG even tho I've followed your exploits since they began... as LPD (Jh) says, "SOG are my Super Heroes".. also...best...6
Recon6
A.. Rec'd +1...6
Brendan G
An amazing story of guts and courage, especially the Bright Light missions, always outnumbered, always in contact. Lest we forget. BG