Running Recon: A Photo Journey with SOG Special Ops Along the Ho Chi Minh Trail

2009 | Art, Photography & Fashion

A combination memoir and combat photography book, Running Recon reflects both the author's experiences in the top-secret Studies and Observation Group (SOG) from April 1969 to April 1970 and the collective experiences of SOG veterans in general. What sets it apart from other Vietnam books is its wealth of more than 700 photographs, many never before published, from the author's personal collection and those of his fellow SOG veterans. Frank Greco had these photos because after running recon with Command and Control Central (CCC) for eight months, he was put in charge of CCC's photo lab at Kontum. His duties included developing photos taken by the teams on their cross-border missions and taking photos on aerial reconnaissance missions. When a fire destroyed the lab during his last days in Vietnam, he rescued hundreds of photos, and when he returned to the States in 1970 he brought them home. If he had not, they would have been destroyed by government order in 1972 when SOG was disbanded, and an irreplaceable historic resource would have been lost forever.

Through these photos, firsthand accounts by SOG veterans and now declassified top-secret documents, Greco shows what it was like to run highly classified, extremely dangerous cross-border recon missions along the Ho Chi Minh Trail into Laos and Cambodia. Color maps marked with operations and locations help readers follow the action of the CCC recon teams and the larger Hatchet Forces. New details and photos of SOG's best-known mission, Operation Tailwind, are also included. Running Recon is sure to appeal to anyone with an interest in SOG, the Vietnam War, special operations or military history in general.

Frank Greco (Author)