5 Books That Left an Impression-Book 3

Across the Fence: The Secret War in Vietnam

John Stryker Meyer

My dad was a fan of the classic war movies and TV shows. Whenever Baa Baa Black Sheep (renamed Black Sheep Squadron for Season 2) aired he would have it on. He was also a fan of the original Midway (1976) movie and just about any World War II movie starring John Wayne. Did you know Erik Estrada (of CHiPs [1977 – 1983] fame) and Tom Selleck (Magnum P.I. [1980 – 1988] and Blue Bloods [2005 – 2015] fame) were in the 1976 Midway movie? You could bet if there were reruns from Combat! (1962 - 1967) or The World at War (1973) series, they would be on. And I sincerely believe that by the time I graduated High School, I had seen every episode of M.A.S.H. (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) (1972 - 1983) at least three times!

There is a long history in our family of military service. I have grandparents, immediate family members, in-laws and uncles who have served in the service as well as myself and a couple of my sons. So having military and war movies and TV shows on seemed only natural. What I don't remember is watching anything Vietnam related. Partly because I do not believe there were a lot of Vietnam related shows in the 70's and partly because I was too young to know or understand what was happening in Southeast Asia. If Walter Cronkite was on, which he probably was in every household, I was too young to care. Those were my Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (1969 - 1978), Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (1973 - 1975), Land of the Lost (1974 - 1976), and The Dukes of Hazzard (1979 - 1985) years of my life! The 1980's were a little different. Chuck Norris came out with his Missing In Action (1984) and Missing In Action 2: The Beginning (1985) movies along with Sylvester Stallone and his Rambo series including First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Rambo III (1988). Oliver Stone's Platoon came out in 1986 which I snuck in to see at the movie theater which upset my parents when they found out later. My dad told me that it wasn't so much that he was upset with me seeing the movie as he was disappointed that we didn't see it with him so that he could help us distinguish between fact and fiction. Alot of bad things happened in the Platoon movie he said, but it was not indicative of the entire war itself. He said the war had lasted for years and that the actions described in the movie did not happen all to one platoon. This was my first understanding that the only thing I knew about the Vietnam War was through the eyes of Hollywood.

In fact, the real men and women that served during that war were amazing. The real circumstances that they found themselves in could not translate to film in its entirety. But it would be years before I would begin to read and understand not only the war, from both a military and political standpoint, but also understand the men and women who served and their accomplishments. Enter Across the Fence: The Secret War in Vietnam by John Stryker Meyer. This is a first-person account of someone who served two tours of duty assigned to the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam - Studies and Observations Group or MACV - SOG. He was assigned to Spike Team (ST) Idaho located at Forward Operating Base (FOB) 1 and conducted covert reconnaissance missions in (formerly) North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

What impressed me was the rawness of the story telling. It is first-person and it is intense. In fact, in the chapters where he and his team went out on mission, I found myself very tense, wondering if they would make it out alive. I had to keep telling myself that he wrote the book, so I knew he survived the ordeal! And I learned a lot about MACV-SOG and their mission, their equipment, and their sacrifice. I also learned a lot about the men who served alongside indigenous troops that served on the teams and piloted the aircraft that inserted the teams and extracted them, usually under extremely heavy gunfire. It was a secret war. If you died in Laos and if they were not able to recover your body, you stayed there. And no one would know officially for over 20 years. There is a lot to take in with this book. If all you know about the Vietnam War is from Hollywood movies, we owe it to the men and women who served and sacrificed in Southeast Asia to read these first-hand accounts and know the truth. This book is well written, and the pacing is fast. It does not slow down, even when they are back at base camp. There isn't a chapter in the book that drags.

Let me know in the comments below if you have read this book or any Vietnam War books that you would recommend.