Special Operations.Com

MACV-SOG

Missing In Action

William W.W. Stubbs: Rank: Staff Sergeant; Branch of Service: U.S. Army Special Forces; Born: 6 August 1946; and Home of Record: Newport, Washington. During the Vietnam War, he served with the Special Operations Augmentation-Command and Control Central (SOA-CCC), 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), and was stationed at its Forward Operational Base (FOB) # 2 at Kontum City in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, a.k.a. South Vietnam). He was assigned to the Reconnaissance Company on Reconnaissance Team (RT) "California." On the 19th of October 1969, RT California, consisting of three American Special Forces soldiers and six Vietnamese Montagnards (Special Commando Unit [SCU, pronounced Sioux], volunteers) was launched from the Special Forces A-Team border camp at Dak Pek and inserted into eastern-central Laos by a Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) CH-34 helicopter assigned to the "King Bees," a special operations air support unit. On the second day of an eight-day reconnaissance mission in target area S-7, the RT was ambushed by a North Vietnam Army (NVA) unit, which was estimated to be of platoon size. The ambush took place at approximately 1130 hours, local time, in a thickly wooded area on a steeply inclined mountainside in the vicinity of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. As a result of the encounter, one American was killed in action (KIA), one American was injured, and five Montagnards were wounded in action (WIA). Of the enemy, its KIAs and WIAs were unknown. The RT eluded pursuit for five hours, having to break contact several times with suppressive automatic weapons fire and maneuver while transporting the most severely wounded. Finally, the team reached a clearing on high ground that was suitable for a helicopter to land, and was now able to make radio contact with friendly forces. Air support of two USAF A-1E "Sky Raiders" aircraft was dispatched to suppress the ambush area while an U.S. Army UH-1 helicopter extracted the RT from the pick-up zone (PZ). The following day, a Special Forces Bright-Light Team from the launch site at Dak To, RVN was inserted back into the area. However, no trace of Bill Stubbs or any of the equipment left behind by the RT was to be found, as the NVA had swept the area after the action. In January of 1970, S/Sgt. Stubbs was listed as MIA as a result of the action on 20 October 1969 in Laos at geographical coordinates 180524N-1050000E.

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