Vietnam Special Forces

Crossbow is the autobiographical story of a young very gung ho Green Beret first lieutenant in 1968 and 1969 and his love affair with the Jeh tribe of Montagnards, a proud, family-oriented tribespeople in Vietnam's mountainous Central Highlands region.

The Green Berets know them as the most fearless and loyal warriors in the land. They were the Montagnards, who called themselves "Sons of the Mountains" and always fought to the death.

Assault Into the Plei Trap Valley is another action-packed autobiographical look at a very special mission. In the late summer of 1968, several intelligence sources stated that numerous American POW's were being held in bamboo cages for transport by vehicle up the Ho Chi Minh Trail from the North Vietnamese Army stronghold the Plei Trap Valley. Special Forces CPT Joe Dietrich and 1LT Don Bendell volunteered to lead a helicopter assault into the Plei Trap Valley with 100 Montagnard mercenaries as the point element of a joint task task force of soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division. This book tells the harrowing tale about the adventures and misadventures of the two on this dangerous mission.

They fought a war without rules, and taught the enemy the legend of the Green Beret. No fighting men in the world were a match for the U.S. Army Special Forces, the men of the Green Beret. But in the chaos of Vietnam, where enemies, allies, friends, and traitors all shared a landscape of terror, the Green Berets had to develop their own tactics and draw closer to the only people they could trust: each other. Don Bendell looks back at life and death at A-Team Camp 242, Dak Pek. From clandestine missions alongside the fierce and proud Montagnard tribesman to wild rides in bullet-riddled Hueys, Bendell tells of firefights, LRRP missions, dust-offs, air strikes, prisoner interrogations, and acts of courage. Most of all, Bendell captures the spirit of the men who were there.