Personal Accounts of 7th PsyOp Group

Col. Charlie Nahlik (Ret.) 7th Group 1966-68

Editor's Note: Col. Nahlik is a 1963 West Point Graduate now retired from the Army. The following are excerpts from several e-mails in Dec. 2005:

I was assigned to the 7th PSYOP Grouip on Okinawa in the Machinato Service Area from late 1966 to 1968. I was first assigned to the S3 plans for a few months (as a Captain) before being assigned to understudy the Major that basically designed the high altitude leaflet programs in the Pacific. Major David Underhill was a fantastic officer and totally dedicated to training others to spread leaflets by the millions. I spent about 6 months working for him. we traveled to Saigon and taught Vietnamese PSYOPS personnel all about PSYOPS. It was a fantastic experience although a bit scary at times.

In the coming two years of my tour, I taught at the Korean Special Forces Camp in sub-freezing weather, taught Taiwanese at okinawa and taught Vietnamese units in Plei Ku, Da Nang and Saigon plus portions of the 6th PSYOP Bn in Saigon.

The Unit Groups consisted of the following: (Discussed Below)

• 7th PSYOP Group
• HHD, 14th PSYOP Bn
• 15th PSYOP Det (Strat)
• 18th PSYOP CO (A&S) (ABN)
• 16th PSYOP CO

The 18th PSYOP Co (Airborne) was the staffing company for the headquarters, 7th PSYOP Group. The 18th was the unit that just about everyone was assigned to that worked in the Headquarters itself.. I do not recall if the 15th PSYOP Det had their own orderly room or not.*

*Dennis Kaliser who was an enlisted man in the 15th at the time indicated that the 15th did NOT have their own orderly room and the 18th was performing all the admin HQ duties. Dennis Kaliser served with the 14th shortly after it was reorganized as the 7th group. . See Kaliser's account of 7th under "Other Accounts".

The 15th Detachment and the 7th HQ were all laid out in long flat buildings, basically end-to end. The 15th Detachment claim to fame was the Target Analysis Section. They were always reading everything they could find that was provided them by the detachments in Korea, Japan and Taiwan. They would write tons of reports that would then go back to the various contries and headquarters for use in preparing for future PSYOPS. They published some fantasitic area assessments I wish I had kept.

The 16th PSYOP Company was still in Deragawa. I was only there once as an observer for a Mount Out Operation that the company participated in.

The 14th PSYOP Battalion was basically like the 7th PSYOP Hq.... It was a HQ with a LTC and mini-staff with the two companies an detachments under them. In my two years there, there was basically no interaction with or requirements from the Bn Hq*.

*Editor's Note: Col Nahlik indicated that he was not certain what role the 14th Bn played in the 7th Group. The role of the 14th Bn after the reorgnization continues to be unclear. . It may be that the 14th Bn was kept as a holdover from traditional naming of PSYOP units or the 14th was considered a "Regional" PSYOP asset as discussed below in Psychological Operations Of US Military:

Every component of the U.S. military services has its own PsyOp personnel and assets whereas the main potential here (about 85 percent) is in the Army, the only component with regular PsyOp units in peacetime and big reserve PsyOp components of high mobilization readiness. The main regular element of the Army and at the same time the nucleus of the entire PsyOp structure of the U.S. military services is the 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne) at Ft. Bragg, NC. It consists of a headquarters element, a headquarters company and five PsyOp battalions: the 1st, 6th and 8th are regionally oriented battalions, the 9th is a tactical PsyOps battalion and the 3rd is a PsyOp dissemination battalion. The Group's total strength is 1,135.

Regional PsyOp battalions are designed to organize and conduct psychological operations of strategic and operational levels in specified theaters in support of the Unified Command (UC) of the U.S. military services: The 1st Psychological Operations Battalion supports the UC in the Atlantic and the UC in Central and Southern America; the 6th Psychological Operations Battalion supports UC in Europe and Africa; the 8th Psychological Operations Battalion supports the UC in the Pacific and the Central Command zone. Each regional battalion has a headquarters support company and two region-oriented companies supporting concrete unified commands (groups) of the U.S. military services. Each of them has a strategic studies detachment, which includes civilians with expertise in the regions the battalions are responsible for. The battalions have MSQ-85B general-purpose audio and video studios for recording and editing television and radio programs and loudspeaker-broadcast messages, producing photographs, slides and printed material layouts.

More will be added to Col Nahlik's account...................

Source: Col. Charlie Nahlik (Ret.)

Maj. Carl Yasuda (Ret.): Assignment To B&VA (14th PsyWar Bn)

Editor's Note: The following is a partial e-mail from Col Yasuda in Dec 2005:

I enlisted in July 1960, made E-5 in 62 and completed OCS in 64. I completed Signal Officer Basic, Airborne School, and the PSYOPS course before reporting to B&VA, Okinawa in August 65 as a 2nd Lt. I was already on orders to go TDY to Vietnam before my arrival. Anyway, the 1st PSYOPS Det was formed by members of B&VA and deployed on TDY status to Da Nang, Vietnam, in July 65 under the operational control of MACV, Advisory Team #1.

I joined the Det in August 65 after processing in/out of Okinawa and receiving in-country briefing in Saigon. while in Vietnam, I was not aware of the reorganization of B&VA until I was taken off jump status. I was working as a PSYWAR Propaganda Officer until Dec 65 and was given an option of continuing with the Det to complete a full Vietnam tour or return to Okinawa. Since my family was scheduled to arrive in Okinawa, I elected to return to Okinawa with only a few other men to the (newly reorganized) 7th PSYOPS Gp.

Maj. Yasuda promised to continue his account at another time.

Source: Maj. Carl Yasuda (Ret.)

7th PsyOps 1966-67 and Return Visit in 1987 By Dennis Kaliser

 

Hello Tim

My name is Dennis Kaliser. While putting together my photo collection from old army days (now digitized) I started surfing the internet for info about the 7th PsyOps. I was a member of the 15th detachment, printing branch from January of 1966 until mid July of 1967. In August 1968 I was discharged from Ft. Eustis Va. where I spent my remaining enlistment time. My MOS was 83E20, litho platemaker. In those days, as the Viet Nam war heated up, the unit grew in size and there was also a regular turnover. I saw the names you listed for the 15th det. in '65 but none of them were there when I arrived. Likewise, I came across another site with names just a few years later and I knew none of them. While on business in the Washington area in the mid seventies I came across an x army guy who served in the 7th PsyOps. He told me the unit moved back to Ft. Bragg N.C. in 1972 when we removed our troops from Viet Nam.

To keep hazy memory of names and places straight, I quote from another site found when I searched for 7th PsyOps. "The 7th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne) was constituted on 19 August 1965 in the Regular Army as the 7th Psychological Operations Group. It activated 20 October 1965 on Okinawa, Japan.
The unit inactivated 30 June 1974 at Fort Bragg, NC."

That means that the 7th Psyops organization was only a few months old when I arrived on Okinawa and had changed from when you left. All during my time there, the entire Okinawa based group was housed in the same barracks. Enlisted ranks that is.. The 15th detachment was the printing branch and the broadcasting guys were in the 14th. Only the 16th detachment was airborne. The guys in this unit worked seamlessly in broadcasting or printing with the 14th or 15th. They did not seem to have a separate mission except to be ready for airborne operations if needed. With airborne training, these guys got an extra 55 dollars a month. I was tempted to go airborne for the fun of it and the money, but there were less slots available for advancement in the 16th. So I stayed "Chairborne"

There seems to be some confusion about place names as since the sixties bases have changed hands and place names have changed. Like many other guys I clandestinely rented a small "hooch" off base to use as a get away from the barracks once in a while. Officially, you were not allowed to have one until you became E5. My little place was in the town of Makiminato just east of the Machinato Service Area. Referring back to WW2 history, Machinato was a Japanese airfield that was bitterly contested during the battle for Okinawa. Once Okinawa was conquered by the Americans, the Naha and Kadena airbases built by the Japanese were taken over and made into American air bases. The Machinato field was turned into a logistics area covered with warehouses. Closer to the beach was where the barracks were built housing the troops working in the warehouses and where the 7th Psyops had its broadcasting facilities and barracks.

When I first came to Okinawa, the 7th PsyOps barracks was building 1201 at the bottom of the hill close to the access road and then the shore line. Looks like the picture in your site. Later that year, that building was turned over to the growing 2nd logistical command and the 7th PsyOps barracks relocated to Ft. Buckner alias Zukeran. The printing branch (building 205) was located in one of those big warehouse buildings in the Machinato Service Area. The rest of the buildings in the service area were used by the 2nd logistical command storing and shipping logistics for Viet Nam.

I later learned....Once the marines took over after Viet Nam, the Machinato service area became Camp Kinser still devoted to logistics. I'm not sure about the section closer to the ocean where the barracks and the "green compound" was. It either became part of Camp Kinser or was turned over to the Okinawans. You'll have to find a Marine get the answer. Note that this is a correction from my previous email where I mistakenly said that the whole service area was no longer a military base.

The town of Makiminato along with civilian parts of Machinato eventually became part of sprawling Urasoe. On my visit in 1987, I asked the taxi driver to see if we could find my old "hooch" in Makiminato, but the place had changed so radically that I could not be sure of the street where I lived and all the old tiny houses had been replaced by modern apartments. I see also by my internet search that there was off base housing for military families in Makiminato dating back to the sixties, but as a single lowly enlisted GI, I never saw the place or even knew of its existence.

The smelly benjo ditches were also long gone from Makiminato and Naha as well. I still remember back in '66 seeing one kid peeing in the bengo ditch and just a little ways down the hill seeing kids playing with their toy boats in the same ditch.

Ft Buckner became Camp Butler and for some unknown reason to me, the Japanese name Zukeran also disappeared. The base name change seems unfortunate to me as Army General Buckner was the commander of operations during the battle of Okinawa and was killed during the battle. I guess the tradition is too strong that a Marine base cannot be named after an Army General.

In 1987, I had a business trip to Tokyo for a couple weeks and decided to fly to Okinawa and spend the interim weekend on a nostalgia trip. I was very surprised to see how much the place and the people had changed in the last 20 years. As the Island returned to Japanese control in 1972, driving was on the left instead of the right, Naha was full of luxurious hotels and there were at least 8 Jumbo jets a day flying in and out of Naha loaded with Japanese tourists. Okinawa had become the "Florida" of Japan. There were modern highways with normal speed limits, not like the 30mph limit when I was stationed there. Nostalgia wise, I was just a bit saddened to see that the Army presence on the Island was all but gone. Just about all the military bases had become marine bases.

Koza with its infamous "four corners" was gone and in its place was the  fairly modern town of Okinawa city. As I was alone and had no contacts with the American military, I took a Japanese bus tour or two of the island. I was the only westerner on the bus and the tour guide spoke no English. None the less, it was most enjoyable. I was able to follow most of what the tour guide said based on my recall of Okinawa history and the few words of Japanese I remembered. It was April and the weather was perfect. The island really is beautiful and getting to see it once again, this time as a pampered civilian staying in a fancy hotel gave me a very different perspective than as a young enlisted trooper back in '66. Anyhow, lots more memories, but just wanted to share some of them when I saw your site. Best regards

Source: Dennis Kaliser

Access Photo Album Below

Okinawa Photo Album/Commentary 1966-67 and Revisit 1987

Leonard Sibel 7th PsyOps 1965-66 Machinato and Deragawa

Tonite, I found your B&VA site searching for that older name. Fantastic site for the few of us who recall that "comfy duty". It was B&VA when I arrived; we woke up one morning to find that we were now a real, numbered US Army Group (7th PsyOps). . I don't recall 14th Btln, but maybe I was a member thereof? (Ed Note: Yes the 7th Group was part of the 14th Batallion) ....there was a SgtMaj. I seem to recall that the 15th Co were the photo lithographers and printers.

After about a year of working for GS(-11 (plus?)) civilians writing thrice-weekly propaganda program "To Tell the Truth", for a time in tandem with Notre Dame grad (SP4?) Lawrence (?) Spivak, during which I managed to piss off most of the Hq & Hq Co military "superiors" in Robin Williams "Good Morning, Vietnam " fashion, I was "retired" to the 16th Co out in the boondocks (Deragawa) near Kadena as caretaker ((not-quite)NCO-in-charge) of mobile, airliftable AM broadcast studio van, Gates Radio serial number 2.

There was an NCOIC who drove up there once in awhile. You couldn't miss the nomenclature plate with that "serial # 2" visits, I asked him how many of these stations were in US Army; his answer: "Two". Next question, of course, "where's the other one?"; his answer: "captured by Viet Cong very soon after it went on the air there." (pretty easy to locate by triangulation...maybe the reason it wasn't replaced).

" Vietnam Order of Battle..." has a photo of the interior of what could be "my" "serial #2" studio van, shot from control room behind audio engineer seated at Gates console looking thru glass window at announcer / performer ("talent"), see 8th PsyOp Btln in: http://www.psywarrior.com/VietnamOBPSYOP

...That was my "office" after they put me out to pasture...to a very nice ex-USAF radar station (maybe microwave as per your site?) with two-man rooms, civilian mess-hall workers residing just outside the gate, free movies, free popcorn, free beer, BookMobile visited weekly, new M-151 Jeeps could be checked out for joyriding to find girls in Koza, interesting CQ duty during typhoons, great Co CO (who appointed me Co historian...may be copies thereof somewhere?).

That 8th Btln station in Vietnam was bombed AFTER my Okinawa tour (before which "serial #1" was said to have been "captured")...since the photo looks identical to "my" "serial #2", it could be that it was shipped to Vietnam with the 8th Btln and became a casualty thereof <sniff, sniff>...I'll recall it fondly on Memorial Days...it should beawarded a posthumous Purple Turntable, right?

Altho the16th Co did not receive Meritorious Unit (probably not given to below-battalion units?), 14th Btln did, for 1968 - 1970. Your site says that 7th PsyOp Grp didn't receive Meritorious Unit until 1967, but http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/branches/psyop/default.htm...shows that Hq & Hq Co received Meritorious Unit every year from 1965 thru 1973 except 1969 and 1971. From the army.mil site, it isn't clear if this applies to everyone in 7th or only to those in Hq & Hq Co. Until I can unearth my copy of 201 file, I'll assume that I wasin Hq & Hq Co, 7th Grp rather than 14th Btln, and try to find such a tie tack for church.

When we barracks residents were rousted out of bunks at all hours (depending on southerly winds across Korean DMZ, for which there was a C-130s out of Naha at that time, I seem to recall. On one occasion when box(es) of leaflets fell off a truck and burst on Okinawa street , I heard that everyone had to run around policing them all up because they were considered Classified "Sensitive", a classification possibly contrived by / for 7th PsyOps or PsyOps generally. (Where is the logic of "classifying"something intended for wide dissemination? Oxymoronic...but at least WE know better than to put "military intelligence" in that category: WE know that those "96Bravo" guys are sharp indeed.) This may be why we can't find much about VUNC or real details on non-Vietnam activities of 7th: there was a clear understanding that most everything we were doing was sort of "Sensitive" and "not for broadcast" to local bar girls or others. In particular, the exact number of millions of leaflets dropped per year was not something that we leaflet-loaders had a "need to know", but I seem to recall a number like 64 million...but that could be just one of our favorite powers of two among software engineers?

We apparently had some difficulty designing cardboard boxes WEAK enough to burst upon static-line snapping; your site mentions some of this testing...the NEED for it is ironic: "stock" cardboard boxes made in USA were too STRONG for what we needed. I think that our Taiwan office used balloons to convey leaflets to mainland (aircraft would be shot down). I do recall seeing candy debris under the roller conveyors on C-130, so we were probably dropping candy over N Vietnam to the kids. It was learned from captured Viet Cong and N Vietnamese that they very much appreciated our leaflets that could be used as toilet paper (might as well read them beforehand, right?).

I don't know if we made any effort to switch to printing on paper more suitable for that particular membrane. It was said, whether or not hyperbole, that the 15th's two three-headed offset presses were as fast as any in the world. In the interest of speed, paper was flipped between heads, one color on one side and two colors on the other, in the same pass. I don't think they were used for three-color printing much, if at all. Various slick magazines in various languages were printed on the higher-quality presses of our Japan office.

Upon my arrival B&VA via Gen Drake Chenault's "bounty land" government contract Flying Tiger Airlines, there was no evidence of any more airborne troops than you would expect in any other (ordinarily) non-combat unit. The 16th Co's radio station's two ten-ton vans (one studio, one transmitter) and half-dozen duece-and-half huts could be airlifted, supposedly up and broadcasting anywhere in the world with at least its helium-balloon antenna (a big, easy target) within 48 hours (or, was it 72?)...but, as of 1965, that "airborne" episode of B&VA must have been a flash in the pan, vetoed by the CINCPAC Admiral or some such (I think that both B&VA and 7th were directly under CINCPAC 65-66?...I don't recall IX Corp at all).

In the Machinato barracks, 1st Special Forces Grp Hq with their nifty new M-16s was right next door, and a USMC unit ("airborne unit" in your photo) was occupying the high ground (of course) just uphill (we (attempted) to play football against both?, or just the Marines?)...so, we were pretty well-protected; maybe "they" concluded that PsyOps troops didn't tend to be the airborne, combat-infantrymen type?

Maybe more later, if memory revives any more. Meanwhile, here's my 500-words-or-less from www.military.com :

1964: E-3 broadcast spec & journalist (MOS 703) in PIO (Pub Info Ofc), Hq & Hq Co, Ft Rucker, AL. 1965-1966: two more promos to E-3 (ha, ha) broadcast spec, PsyOps (MOS 703.2 > 73R2W) in Writers'Sec, VUNC (Voice of the UN Cmd), Broadcasting & Visual Activity, Pacific > Hq & Hq Co, 7th PsyOps Grp, Machinato, Okinawa . 1967: E-3 journalist (MOS 73R2W) in PIO (Pub Info Ofc), Hq & Hq Co, 1st ArmorDiv, Ft Hood, TX; weekend civilian top forty rock'n'roll DJ at KNOW-AM, Austin , TX .

Source:  F. Leonard Sibel Jr aka (radio announcer) Jay William Weed  
P.O. Box 27031 Fresno , CA 93729 559-224-9333

Craig Morris 7th PsyOps Group 1968-1970

Source: Craig Morris

1968 Attack On Pleiku 8th PsyOp Broadcast Station and Death of 1st LT Micheal Merkel

• E-Mail Account
• PsyWarrior Account

NOTE:   Dave Merkel, brother of Micheal Merkel sent the following account to Col. Charlie Nahlik (Ret.). Col. Nahlik in turn submitted the account for posting on this page. The account was actually written by William W. Forgey, M.D. who was formerly a CPT Inf, USAR.

LT Micheal Merkel was a member of the 7th PsyOp Group on Okinawa and was TDY to the 8th PsyOp Bn in Vietnam when he was KIA. in 1968. A picture of LT Merkel is posted In Memoriam on "Where Are They Now Page"

Following the E-Mail account by William Fogey is a a newspaper picture and account about the attack from the PsyWarrior Page

E-Mail Account of LT Merkle and Pleiku Attack

RE: Mike Merkel (10/6/05)

I was Assistant S4 of the 2nd PSYOP Group and stationed in Saigon at the Group headquarters in March 1968. In fact I served in the S4 of the 6th Bn, which became the 2nd PSYOP Group, from August 1966 through the end of December 1968.

In my capacity I was in charge of ensuring supplies moved to each of the battalions and that local logistic support was in place for all facilities. In that capacity I made many trips to the 50,000 watt AM radio station that had been installed outside of Pleiku and which was under the command of 1LT Michael Merkle.

Visiting Mike (and staying with him at his billet when up there), was always a great experience. He was a very dedicated young man, who was in love with his wife he had left behind, was proud that he was about to be raising a family, who loved his brothers and mother. It was just great knowing him.

The radio station had it problems. It had multiple radio tube failures caused by a nearby RVN artillery battery that at times fired in the direction of the site (over it actually at its targets), but the blast from the guns would jar the site causing the carbonized filaments to fall apart. Mike was TDY in RVN from the 7th PSYOP Group in Okinawa. The 7th Group really had its act together and provided him very close support, replacing the tubes and other components immediately when needed. (In fact they helped the entire 2nd Group in many of our logistical problems).

The radio station was in a very exposed position. It had a guard tower manned by the radio station soldiers, barbed wire, and fence posts around it. The radio station was modular in vans that were partially dig into the hilltop and sandbagged. Many a time I roared up the hill to the site, with Merkle driving the jeep, as we came out from the billet in Pleiku or from the airport from picking me up, that 250 foot tower looming overhead. The station was an outpost, not located within a defensive perimeter of any unit. The nearby RVN artillery base was quite a distance away (it was a surprise to us that the concussions would bother those radio tubes). The barbed wire fence with its several rows of concertina wire was all the separated the outpost from potential annihilation. The tower could be seen for miles and was probably used as an aimning post by both sides. We were always surpirsed that the enemy didn't blast away at it with mortars. But they had other plans.

Another problem they had was jamming from Radio Hanoi. They constantly moved the transmission frequency around the jamming - but it was a continuous battle of wits. We had bought tens of thousands of radio receivers and placed them all over the country so people could listent to our broadcasts. Initially these had fixed frequency reception, but they were easily jammed. Then we provided tunable radios, taking the chance that the users would listen to some other station. It was reported to us that when the VC found any of these radios they fused the frequency to the Radio Hanoi frequency. We were certain that many people listened to our broadcasts in both North and South Vietnam.

Mike and his crew were really proud of their ability to keep that station broadcasting. It was one of the most powerful radios stations broadcasting anywhere in the world.

My last trip to the outpost was three days before the fatal night. The main request that Mike had on that trip was for the Group to obtain a .50 cal machine gun. He felt the position was completey vulnerable and without adequate protection. They were armed with M14s and a few .45 cal side arms. I presume there was a .30 machine gun in the tower, but I honestly cannot remember at this time. I spent that day at the site and flew back to Saigon the evening of my visit.

The night the enemy hit they probaby sent about 20 guys against the place. They came in guns blazing and threw satchel charges into several of the sandbagged modules. I do not remember how many of our guys were wounded, but certainly remember Mike died of his wounds shortly after the attack. I also remember seeing the photos of bodies of some of the kids that made the attack, piled in a hole dug on the radio station hill. Someone decided maybe they should take a photo of them, but the picture was made after a few shovel-fulls of dirt had been splashed on their faces. They looked like a bunch of 14 year olds and there must have been 5 or 6 of them laying there.

The tower had been blown down by satchel charges. I do not remember if there had been a mortar shelling by the enemy,  but the attack was swift, concentrated, and over-with in a short matter of time. A real professional job, be they 14 years old or not. I also remember that Radio Hanoi bragged about the attack the morning afterwards.

A new tower was shipped in from the 7th PSYOP Group, all modules replaced, and the system fully functional in exactly ten days. We had to hire civilian contractors who were flown in from the states, to erect the tower. The funds came from a special account in the DCSOPS at the Pentagon and was arranged by Harold Cotner, the DA civilian in charge of the PSYOPS support and LTC John P. Morgan, who was our greatest ally in the Pentagon.

The skill and courage of the crew that not only repaired this station, got it back on the air within ten days, but also continued to man it from the edge of civilization (as we knew it) was astonishing. Mike was the genius behind this operation. And the men working under him had to be the top guys in their profession.  Even with several .50 cal machine guns that exposed position was untenable. It was basically raw courage that kept that radio station going. Raw courage and technical expertise and leadership. Mike Merkle was a true leader and hero. He represents the very highest level of skill and courage that it takes to be a battlefield PSYOPer.

William W. Forgey, M.D. formerly, CPT, Inf, USAR.

HERE IS ANOTHER MSG FROM MICHEALS BROTHER DAVE: Hello Col. Nahlik,         Not so much bad memories, just very sad ones.  But that's okay.  When I contacted the virtualwall.org, all I gave them was Micheal's name and causality date.  They provided the info on him.  I do not know where they got it.  Some database somewhere?  To answer your other question : to my understanding, Mike had the station up and running for a while when it got hit.  Not sure how long.  I'll forward an email to you from William (Doc) Forgey who know Mike in Vietnam.  Doc sent this email to Maj. Nicholas Kinkead from Fort Bragg at my request.  Maj. Kinkead contacted me requesting any information on Mike because they were considering naming a media facility in his honor. 

MAJ Nicholas E. Kinkead
Executive Officer
3rd Psychological Operations Battalion (A)(D)
COM: (910)396-4635 DSN:236-4635
kinkeadn@usasoc.socom.smil.mil/nicholas.kinkead@us.army.mil

Source: Col. Charlie Nahlik (Ret.)

Account of Attack From The PsyWarrior Page

The 1968 Army publication states:

In May 1968, a field team from the 8th PSYOP Battalion, using powerful ground loudspeakers, coaxed 95 North Vietnamese soldiers from a battered village North of Hue . The scope of Group PSYOP support in Vietnam is boundless. In II Corps, an 8th PSYOP Battalion advisory team assists Vietnamese radio broadcasters in programming PSYOP messages to hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese civilians, NVA soldiers and Viet Cong.  8th PSYOP Battalion radio technicians man the Group's 50-thousand watt transmitter from its hilltop site outside Pleiku City . In connection with the operation, PSYOP aircraft have dropped thousands of small transistor radios to Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army troops. All are pretuned to the station's frequency. The 8th PSYOP Battalion provides PSYOP support for all of II Corps. To provide adequate coverage in Vietnam 's largest corps it became necessary to detach one of its companies from its headquarters in Nha Trang and station it permanently in Pleiku. The Nha Trang and Pleiku elements have printing and field team capabilities. The company at Pleiku also maintains a small PSYOP Development Center (PDC), which is an extension of the Group PDC system.

Newspaper article of the April 68 VC attack on the 8th PSYOP Bn Radio Station
(Photo courtesy of Rick Hofmann)

In addition to other duties, the 8th battalion was charged with operation of the Group's 50,000 watt AM radio station in Pleiku. The mission of the station was to broadcast to audiences in a large area in the northern provinces of South Vietnam . The radio station had it problems. It was in a very exposed position. It had a guard tower manned by its own staff, barbed wire, and fence posts around it. The station was an outpost, not located within a defensive perimeter of any unit. The station was made up of modular vans that were partially dug into the hilltop and sandbagged. Another problem they had was jamming from Radio Hanoi . The Americans had bought tens of thousands of radio receivers and placed them all over the country so people could listen to the broadcasts. Initially these had fixed frequency reception, but they were easily jammed. They later provided tunable radios, so that listeners could change stations as the Americans attempted to avoid the Communist jamming.

The Viet Cong sent about 20 sappers against the radio station on 24 March 1968 . They threw satchel charges into several of the sandbagged modules and destroyed the radio tower. 1LT Micheal Merkle was killed in the attack and the Viet Cong lost about a half dozen sappers. Radio Hanoi bragged about the attack the morning afterwards. A new tower was shipped to Vietnam from the 7th PSYOP Group in Okinawa , all modules replaced, and the radio station was back on the air and the system fully functional in exactly ten days.

Source: The PsyWarrior

Account by Jack Johnson 15th Det. 1970-71

I arrived on Okinawa in February of 1970 and I was assigned to the Laotian section at Machinato, but actually did translation from French into English.  Our billet was at Sukeran across from the jump towers.  I spent a year and a half doing mostly translations.  My desk officer at that time was Cpt McNeil, he did get out of the service sometime during my time on Okinawa, not sure what happen to him. 

Our office was located on the edge of the South China Sea in Machinato and was divided between the Laotian desk 1 officer and two enlisted men, the Chinese desk, the Korean desk, the Cambodian desk and  the Vietnam desk, an a few civilians. 

When I departed Okinawa I was assigned to the 167th Combat Intelligence in Fort Hood Texas October 71 until February 72.  Returned to civilian life attended College and worked at diffrent jobs until I landed a permanent job with The U.S. Customs Service now the U.S. Customs and Border Protection a part of DHS.  I have been the Port Director in Ketchikan since 1997 and in Alaska almost 20 years and  all of it with the U.S. Customs. I plan to retire in January 2009 possibly to Southern BC or Washington State. 

Would like to get in touch with members who were on Okinawa during that time frame and same unit.

SOURCE:

Jack Johnson

Laney Reed SFC, Ret.

Editor's Note: Laney sent three pictures including one site shot of Site B taken during 1965-69. I was very interested in this picture since it is the only one I have seen other than the initial construction pictures during my TDY in Korea in 1962.

I was with VUNC, 24th PSYOP, in 1969 - 1970 at Site "B" Chorwon Valley. I got to Korea in 1969, assigned to AFKN in Pusan but was transfered to VUNC about three months later because of a shortage of technicians. Being a 26T, Television technician, I was not too happy about being assigned to a radio hut. It turned out to be a menorable time up there. I had met a young girl in Pusan and took up living with her, when I was reasssigned, at the village of Taeguanee (I'm sure that is misspelled) that was about 5 miles from Site "B". About a year later we were married while I was assigned to AFRTS Alaska A new tranmitter hut was built while I was there and they took away the two mobile van later.

I went back to Korea in 1973, AFKN, and called Site "B" and got the same tech who worked there before. Never did get to go up there. Had many dreams about that place over the years. One day I would like to go see it again if possible.

Site "B" Chorwon Valley 1965-69

Laney Martin with K9 Friend at Site "B"

Martin Hard At Work at Site "B"

 

Reed Martin SFC Ret, USA

SOURCE: Michael Bercutt

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