Frenchy

For a number of years now I have been working with the Laotian/Hmong SGU (Special Guerilla Units) veterans to help them attain the ability to receive benefits from our government for their service in the Vietnam War. This group, which is getting smaller by the day, served at the behest of the United States, mostly behind enemy lines, and especially along the Ho Chi Minh trail. The SGU was hired by, trained in special ops by and paid by our CIA. They lost many thousands of lives in support of our troops, suffered an unbelievable number of wounded, and were either imprisoned by the North Vietnamese or escaped from Laos when their country was lost to Communism. Many of them went to Thailand, and some were fortunate enough to get their families to the United States.

The fight we have been involved in for years now is to help these loyal soldiers get the same VA benefits we all are entitled to receive. The main problem is that they received their DD214 from the CIA, and not the United States government. Because of this the VA will not recognize them as true veterans. Since the end of the war, it took until about a year ago for the SGU veterans to have the right to be buried in federal military cemeteries. Unfortunately this is federal legislation, and to date, in Connecticut anyway, legislation has not been passed for our state military cemeteries.

During the Vietnam war, in addition to the sacrifices the SGU made on our behalf, including not only the loss of lives, but the loss of their country, they saved over 300 downed American airmen in Vietnam and Laos. Often these rescues came at a loss of their own troops. As our committee works to get these brave men and women, (now all American citizens) the benefits they deserve, we are trying to get as much documentation as we can to support their rights to these benefits.

This brings me to my request. I am asking all of my VO-67 brothers and families to reach out to anyone you can think of to help us locate any of the downed pilots the SGU may have rescued. Their testimony to their rescue would be a forceful tool in helping us achieve our goals for the SGU. You will find SGU veterans in numerous states across the nation, though as I mentioned when I began this email, their numbers are dwindling quickly. On their behalf I am personally asking for your help to correct a wrong that has been done to these heroes. They are truly some of the finest patriots I have had the honor to work with through my years working with veterans.

One last note that I think you will find interesting. The Connecticut commander, General Sar, was assigned the task way back when to locate an area in Thailand to build a secret base. That secret base became NKP. Not only that, but Sar’s wife, who has since passed, was born and raised in Nakhon Phanom.

For more background informationon the SGU, type in “The Special Guerilla Units (SGU) Service History on your browser.” https://graphics.jsonline.com/jsi_news/documents/sgu_final_2.pdf

Thank you all for listening.God bless, and may God bless America.

Bob Havens