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Barry Pencek

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Operation Tailwind: Memoirs of a Secret Battle in a Secret War Kindle Edition

by Barry Pencek (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 680 ratings

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The Studies and Observations Group was a covert American military unit in Vietnam that specialized in clandestine cross-border operations in Laos and Cambodia. In September 1970, sixteen Green Berets and one-hundred-twenty Montagnard mercenaries departed on Operation Tailwind, the largest and deepest raid in SOG history. Their mission was to disrupt and distract the enemy in support of a larger CIA operation that originated in the White House.

Over the next four days, as their ammunition dwindled and casualties mounted, these soldiers, and the aircrews overhead that went to extraordinary lengths to keep them alive, achieved the improbable if not the impossible.

Twenty-eight years after Tailwind concluded, CNN produced a documentary about Tailwind, called “Valley of Death,” accusing the participants of war crimes, specifically using nerve gas to kill women, children, and American defectors. This broadcast created a media firestorm that reached around the world.

InOperation Tailwind: Memoirs of a Secret Battle in a Secret War, Barry Pencek gives an incredibly detailed account of the four-day running battle and does a thought-provoking deep dive into the failure of journalistic ethics at CNN that created a media debacle. Besides being one hell of a war story, Operation Tailwind provides a great example of the need for the highest integrity in journalism and should be required reading for all J-school students.

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404 pages
Language

English
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Publication date

November 7, 2022
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9819 KB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BLTBVLR1
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 7, 2022
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 9819 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 404 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #73,439 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #9 in Journalism Writing Reference (Kindle Store)
- #29 in Vietnam War History (Kindle Store)
- #35 in Journalism Writing Reference (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 680 ratings

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Barry Pencek

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I have orbited the sun seventy-seven times since I was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which, I suppose, makes me old. After graduating from Cumberland College, I joined the Marine Corps and flew attack helicopters in Vietnam. Following my stint in the Marines I went to graduate school at the University of Georgia then worked for Bell Helicopter in Iran as a flight instructor with the Iranian Army. Upon returning to the States, I joined the Marine Corps Reserve while beginning a career in commercial aviation, eventually flying with Emery Airfreight, Eastern, Pan Am, and United. My wife Mary and I currently reside in the Atlanta area where I spend most of my time writing, reading, tinkering, cooking, and sipping wine.

Years ago, I fiddled with the idea that I would write a book for my four sons to pass along some common sense and practical advice about personal finance. After retiring from United Airlines in 2006, I began volunteering at consumer advocate Clark Howard's Consumer Action Center, answering phone calls from across the country. It was then I realized it wasn't just my sons in need of such advice and the family project morphed into my first book, The Millennial's Guide to Wealth: Learn About Saving, Investing, Spending and Living While Drinking Beer, for which I was the 2017 Runner-up for Georgia Author of the Year.

In 2017 I got to attend a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House for Army medic Mike Rose who received the MOH for his gallantry during Operation Tailwind, a mission in Laos in 1970 that I had participated in. By now the writing bug had bitten and the full story of that mission screamed to be told. After five years of research Operation Tailwind: Memoirs of a Secret Battle in a Secret War was released in 2022.

Once bitten by the writing bug I've discovered it's a difficult affliction to cure and I recently embarked on my first novel. Icarus, or perhaps Isfahan, the title is still up in the air, will be a historical thriller centered on the Iranian revolution. I hope to have it finished for release in the not-too-distant future. Stay tuned.

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Kindle Customer

As it I needed ANOTHER reason to be disgusted with CNN news...

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2024

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This is a good memoir, and very well researched to back up his assertions.

CNN in 1998 did a hatchet job on the US govt and the operators from this mission, accusing them of war crimes. It was all based on the lies of a couple of self-aggrandizing men and the ramblings of an elderly veteran with dementia who was finally badgered into saying something incriminating after several days of exhausting all-day interviews by the "reporter" in question.
The allegations were investigated by the Pentagon, intelligence agencies, several news companies and some private groups, all of whom eviscerated the CNN allegations as being baseless.

Shame on CNN for broadcasting that trash.

I'm glad the author made it home alive, and not merely because it allowed him to write this.

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W. Crane

Didn't know it really happened...

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2023

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I am a huge fan of Aaron Sorkin, and I thoroughly enjoyed his show, THE NEWSROOM. The show has a fictionalized account of the journalistic debacle related in this book. Knowing something about the military, our history in Southeast Asia, and chemical weapons, I was fascinated by the fictional story, and HAD to read this book to read the history behind the fiction. The fact that Colonel Don "the Great Santini" Conroy makes a brief appearance in it is an added bonus!

God bless our Armed Forces members. When you hear about an atrocity they are alleged to have committed, examine it critically before rushing to belief. Here endeth the lesson.

6 people found this helpful

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Deborah G. Wallace

Bravery on Steroids

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2024

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Incredible story of no nonsense dedication, heroism, and bravery! This book had my attention right from the get-go! Part 2 brought tears to my eyes as I thought about the sacrifices these men were willing to make. True heros.

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SamGrant

Setting the Record Straight!

Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2023

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Barry Pencek writes a good book! Perhaps he drank a little too much in Park 1, but I remember a few blurry times myself as a Marine officer. Part 2 was a really detailed and informative narrative of the operation itself and throughly enjoyable. Bill Beardell was a Basic School classmate of mine and was a character in his own right. His last man on the “string” was a topic at every reunion until he passed a couple of years ago. Part 3 served as vindication of not only Operation Tailwind but the bias and lies that all of us Vietnam veterans deal with. Well done,

2 people found this helpful

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WJG

Not your typical war story

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2022

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I have to confess to my personal biases. I am generally not a fan of military books and I did grow up next door to the author. Who wudda thunk! The book is written in three parts, each of which could be a short story. I actually liked all three and they are very different. Anyone who grew up in an ethnic neighborhood will appreciate Part 1. I felt like I was reliving parts of my childhood and had actually forgotten some of the details. Barry's humor and dry wit pervade throughout the book but I especially loved this part. I am sure his tales will trigger similar feelings and memories as others read through his semi-biography.
I was skeptical about whether I would actually enjoy reading about the mission itself. Enjoy is the wrong word. Barry created a very readable story that kept my adrenaline flowing without overwhelming me with the horrors of war. Again, his sense of humor shows through in what must have been a very humorless situation.
Part 3 takes a very different turn, the tone very serious. Barry skillfully builds a thorough analysis of an injustice created by shoddy reporting which cast a dark shadow on the heroes of the mission. I was very impressed by the amount of research, detail and logic that he put into the narrative.
All in all, the book was an easy and interesting read and I wasn't a Marine

9 people found this helpful

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dagunny

Interesting Read and how the press screws everything up

Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2023

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Impeccable research into how skewed stories can get. Was glad to see Rose finally got what he deserved in the MOH. Too often senior officers hold grudges against people and the ones that deserve accolades never see the light of day, but those that haven't "walked the walk" do all the "talk the talk" and enflate their egos and the truth. Thanks for doing this and setting the record straight. Welcome home. Semper Fi.

2 people found this helpful

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James Mitschke

A great story from that 'secret' war in SE Asia.

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2023

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WOW, how did I miss reading this book earlier. Having spent two years as an Army, 101st (ARA), Cobra pilot in Vietnam during this same time span, and being flight school friends with two of the Marine (Scarface) Cobra Pilots, Steve Robinette and Sid Baker, and having also supported the top secret MACV-SOG, CCN MLT 2 missions in (Quang Tri) Northern I Corp across the fence from the DMZ, as I'm reading this book, I felt like (and caught myself wishing) I was flying his wing. Barry Pencek has a great story to tell and is a great story teller of a 4 day battle by some of the most dedicated, tenacious, fearless warriors ever, fighting their own Top-Secret War along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in North Vietnam and Laos!! Great factual details of what it was like, the knowns, the unknows, the emotions and fears hoping that it would all end well.
And then the kicker of exposing CNN for fabricating the use of nerve gas on this mission to destroy villages and kill women and children….all in an effort to make a profit. How did we get here as a country…..Barry Pencek put lots of research and effort into writing about it. A GREAT READ!

8 people found this helpful

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K.H

NOT your typical war story, This autobiography will pull at your soul !

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2023

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COLONEL PENCEK takes you from his boyhood dream of becoming a US Marine Corps pilot ,through the challenges of obtaining a college degree, Marine Corps officer selection, Flight School, and designated
USMC ATTACK HELICOPTER PILOT.
Ordered to VIETNAM in1970, he participated in a TOP SECRET (considered by some a suicide mission)deep INTO LAOS. So Secret it was not discussed for 28years and would not have been discussed
except for a breakdown of journalistic ethics.
Col. Pencek shares with the reader the trials, tribulations, fears, frustrations, challenges and fog of battle.
For those who have wondered if they would have the courage to overcome the fears of combat. He shares the secret known by those who have served... for the student who desires to be a military aviator, he shares the course and challenges... For the journalist he sets the record straight... and for the reader he identifies some True American Heroes you may know and or have served with that you had no idea of what they had done or how heroic it was.
MUST READ Col Richard M. Husty Jr., USMCR Ret.

4 people found this helpful

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Mark A Spencer

Operation Tailwind

Reviewed in Canada on May 18, 2023

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A great read. This should be required reading for all the so called "journalists " in mainstream media today. I applaud the
military and all the members of operation Tailwind for their contributions.

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