Operation Thunderhead
The True Story of Vietnam's Final POW Rescue Mission--and the last Navy Seal Killed in Country
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- USD 5.99
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- USD 5.99
Publisher Description
The incredible true story of a top secret mission to resuce POWs in Vietnam.
In the last year of the Vietnam conflict, even as American troops were leaving for home, there were still those fighting for their lives: prisoners of war being held in the Communist north. There were two operations launched to rescue the POWs. One—the legendary Son Tay Raid—was revealed to the public. The other was classified as Top Secret. This is the incredible true story of that almost-forgotten mission...
Among the personnel recruited for Operation Thunderhad was a select group of operators from both the U.S. Navy SEALs and the Underwater Demolition Teams who knew that if they were captured, they would be killed, tortured, or simply disappear. They went in anyway.
Here, for the first time, the details of Operation Thunderhead are revealed—the mission, the materials, and the men who put their lives on the line to save their brothers in arms.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Not one American prisoner of war was rescued by the U.S. military from North Vietnamese or Vietcong POW camps during the Vietnam War. Not for want of trying, though. Military historian and SEAL specialist Dockery (The Weapons of the Navy SEALs) writes about the little-known last POW rescue mission, in June 1972, which resulted in the death of U.S. Navy Lt. Melvin Spence Dry, one of the special operations officers who undertook the dangerous mission. But Dockery writes about the mission only in the last four chapters of this mistitled book. The first 26 chapters are devoted mainly to the story of U.S. Air Force Capt. John Dramesi, who was shot down on April 2, 1967, and taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese. Dramesi escaped twice, once from the infamous Hanoi Hilton, only to be recaptured and tortured. He was a main player in the planning of the ill-fated Operation Thunderhead. Dockery offers up less than promised in this drily written book that nonetheless tells an amazing story of survival. Photos.
