I have been searching for the full set for years, had volumes 3 & 4 for a long time but the first two are very hard to find. Very pleased to add this to the library the full four volumes. The set is now long out of print but contains some amazing information considoring when it was published. Its not the best designed book but its teh content that shines through. Harve Saal was a SOG veteran who basically documented everything there was to know from the history of the unit through to every based and location used by SOG.
Here are some reviews of the set.
"Harve Saal made a determined effort to write a historical account of what this "Secret" organization did during the Vietnam War. His motivation was to get the truth RIGHT about SOG's History, the men who volunteered and fought against all odds. One of his rules when he was compiling this four volume set was that if a story came along i.e. "There I was with so & so, knee deep in the mud, my CAR-15 blazing away" he would not put the story in unless in was verified by two or three other independent sources. Here you have a man who volunteered for SOG & CCN numerous times over a number of years, fought and drank with some of SOG's legends such as "Mad Dog Shriver". In other words he was there and had a vested interest in doing a number one job in documenting what he and his fellow soldiers did. You will find that the stories are descriptive, sad and funny and if you knew Harve Saal he had a great wit. If anything is a draw back to you the reader it is the amount of detail that Harve went into. Much like the man this was professionally written. JOB WELL DONE HARVE! Rest in Peace."
"This is not a book - it is a four volume set: (Vol I - Historical Evolution Vol II - Locations Vol III - Legends Vol IV - Appendixes) Completed and published in 1990, it was compiled while much of the information was still very classified; and, as far as the government was concerned, the unit didn't exist except as a mailing address "somewhere in Southeast Asia." There was a lot of James Bond and John Wayne stuff going on in this outfit (my own personal heros at that time). And, while there are a few errors, omissions, and some material duplication, it remains an excellent and massive attempt to document a very unique and clandestine military operation. With all of its annotation and references, it will continue to be prime source material for military historians attempting to impart some sense to that little impolite bump in our semi-recent past. These books, along with John L. Plaster's excellent recent two books on SOG will become the future War College references for the teaching of behind the lines covert operations. And, when Hollywood discovers SOG, it will very likely get a much larger treatment than a one word reference in "Apocalypse Now". We all did time together in FOB2/CCC at Kontum and wouldn't trade it for anything."
"I bought the four volume book as soon as the books came of the press. My telephone bill immediatley went through the roof as I conversed via land line with Harve in Wisconsin. Harve did a super job with these books, his research was numba one bar none. The writing is superb, the wit is there as are the heroes who did the job that did not exist. I will surely miss this fine friend. Sua Sponte, buddy"
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