For these troops, this dangerous Thanksgiving became an unusual way to observe the holiday, far from home.
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group) was a covert American unit formed in 1964. This elite force was made up of volunteers from multiple branches, including Green Berets, Navy SEALs, CIA operatives, specially trained Marines, Air Force Commandos, and local allies.
Working under strict secrecy, MACV-SOG conducted missions across Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and North Vietnam, while the US government publicly claimed that American forces were active only in South Vietnam. To maintain this cover, team members refrained from wearing recognizable American uniforms or insignia.
A major element of MACV-SOG’s mission involved reconnaissance, with a special emphasis on the Ho Chi Minh Trail—a crucial supply route extending from North Vietnam, through Cambodia and Laos, and into South Vietnam.
John Stryker “Tilt” Meyer
John Stryker “Tilt” Meyer was one of the fearless men who volunteered to be an operative with MACV-SOG. He initially enlisted with the US Army in 1966, and soon after was accepted to Airborne School, where he was airborne certified.
By the following year, he’d graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course, eventually becoming a member of MACV-SOG’s Spike Team (ST) Idaho. Meyer detailed much of his time in Vietnam in two books, Across the Fence: The Secret War In Vietnam (2003) and On the Ground: The Secret War in Vietnam (2007).
He was also one of the MACV-SOG commandos involved in the Thanksgiving Day mission in 1968, serving as a reconnaissance leader for a team of six. Aside from Meyer, ST Idaho consisted of four local mercenaries – Sau, Hiep, Phuoc and Tuan – as well as fellow American, John “Bubba” Shore.
30,000 missing enemy troops
By November 1968, US Intelligence remained vigilant of the movements of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) following the Tet Offensive earlier that year. This offensive, launched in January, involved surprise attacks by the NVA and Viet Cong on urban centers, aiming to spark rebellion among South Vietnamese civilians and pressure the US to scale back its presence in the region.
In the aftermath of the Tet Offensive, concerns grew as three divisions of the NVA vanished, prompting urgent efforts to locate them. ST Idaho was tasked with this mission. The 1st, 3rd, and 7th NVA divisions, totaling approximately 30,000 troops, were part of a larger force of 100,000 under close American surveillance. Their disappearance near the Cambodian border raised fears that they might be preparing for an assault on Saigon.
MACV-SOG’s Thanksgiving mission
The task was simple enough: ST Idaho would enter Cambodia and locate the missing troops, after which they’d relay the information back to headquarters.
On Thanksgiving Day 1968, Meyer and his men waited in Bù Đốp Special Forces Camp, where the MACV-SOG team were delivered a Thanksgiving feast of turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and cranberry rolls. A helicopter then arrived to deliver the men to Cambodia. This presented its own challenges, as they were only allowed to be brought 10 kilometers into the country via air and would then need to travel the remaining two kilometers on foot.
ST Idaho quickly disembarked the Huey and began their mission, searching for the missing NVA troops in the dense jungle. It didn’t take long for them to notice smoke, which they confirmed was from the soldiers they were looking for. The camp appearing empty, the MACV-SOG commandos began taking pictures and searching for important documents.
It appeared as though they’d successfully completed their mission – and rather quickly. Unbeknownst to them, however, they’d just walked into the middle of a 30,000-strong NVA encampment.
30,000 North Vietnamese versus six commandos
Sau was the one who alerted Meyer to the looming danger, saying gravely, “Beaucoup VC! Beaucoup VC!” Though Meyer had only five months of experience with MACV-SOG, compared to Sau’s three years, he trusted his instincts.
Soon after, North Vietnamese forces began advancing from both directions and opened fire. The MACV-SOG team swiftly planted a Claymore mine and retreated. The enemy pursued closely, but ST Idaho countered with grenades and carefully placed trip-wired Claymores.
Their rescue arrived in the form of US Air Force Bell UH-1P Hueys from the 20th Special Operations Squadron. The helicopters responded with M60 machine guns and M134 miniguns against the encroaching enemy soldiers. As the chopper reached the pickup point, the six men hurried aboard, setting a final Claymore at the edge of the landing zone.
Making it out of the Thanksgiving Day mission alive
Meyer later described the mad dash in his book, writing, “We had been moments away from a very violent death and we killed an untold number of NVA soldiers – soldiers who continued to earn our undying respect. I took no pleasure in killing the enemy. It was simply us or them.” They made it, however, with the Huey taking off before the NVA troops could reach them.
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Successful in their mission, although a little worse for ware, the first thing ST Idaho did upon their return to base was visit the mess hall for a well-deserved second Thanksgiving dinner. Soon after, they were tracked down by the MACV-SOG officer who’d sent them on the mission, asking if they would join him for yet another Thanksgiving feast and discuss the mission. Meyer and Shore obliged, debriefing him over the well-earned meal.