Mercenary American POW Rescue Mission

Tom Sandell was an interesting character who worked for RMK-BRJ Construction Company in Vietnam. In his early twenties and being naive, he made his way to Cuba and joined the Cuban revolutionaries. The group camped on a nearby an island off Cuba. The Cuban group became distrusting of him because he was at times critical of their military actions.  Tom somehow became aware of their plans to eliminate him and one night crept away while everyone was sleeping, He made it to the coastline, took one of their small boats and escaped rowing to the Cuban mainland.

 

During the1968 TET offensive with the VC swarming around where he lived, he went up to the hotel rooftop with a semi-automatic rifle and proceeded to defend himself and the immediate area during the days and nights of intense combat. When asked how many kills he had, he would reply, “Enough!”

 

Following a conversation we had a couple of months ago, I received a letter from Tom Sandell extending an invitation and giving superficial information concerning a reactionary mercenary force being formed to rescue American POWs located in Laos, near the border of Thailand.

 

Tom wrote that he had committed me to a private right ring religious group that was funding this operation and that the US Government was not involved. He stated that the “intelligence these people have is great and that medics are badly needed.” Tom writes that equipment includes “several M60s, Chinese 7.62, light machine guns, 60mm mortars, 3.5 rockets, M16, AK-47, 45, 9 mm Swedish K’s, M-79 and M-14s”.

 

The mercenary group was made up of English, Belgium, South African mercenaries, and Vietnam American combat veterans. 

 

Having arrived in Saigon from Phu Quoc Island on a MedEvac, I called Tom Sandell to meet with him the following afternoon to discuss the proposed POW rescue mission.

 

I met Tom in his Saigon villa; with him was another military type in civilian clothes who Tom introduced as an army veteran. There was something strange about him; every time I looked at him; he showed nervousness, his face and upper body trembled every time I looked at him, then he relaxed when I looked away. I soon ignored him and concentrated on Tom’s tactical plan to rescue the American POW’s. The plan was to use two or three helicopters lifting off from the border of Thailand, which would fly to the nearby POW camp to insert the mercenaries, which would make a concentrated attack and extract the American POWS. Meanwhile, the now-empty helicopters would immediately take off and returned to Thailand. The POW’s were expected to escape by walking the 30 plus miles on trails through the thick mountainous jungle to the Thailand border to safety.

 

It was my turn to respond; I told Tom from my perspective the plan has serious flaws, which would doom the mission from the start.

The American POW’s would most likely be suffering from various diseases such as dysentery, malaria, and malnutrition. I could anticipate some would be suffering from wounds and fractures. They would be unable to walk. Some would have to be carried on stretchers or assisted in walking, decreasing your fighting force capacity, and significantly increase the escape time.

 

I suggested that the helicopters, in principle, be assigned the primary mission to extract the prisoners from the POW camp. As far as I was concerned, the mercenary troops either could walk in or fly in by helicopter to initiate the attack, but it was imperative that the helicopters hold until all rescued POWs were on board and extracted out of the danger zone.

 

Not showing my alarm and suspicions of this flawed plan, I asked if any experienced officers were involved in the planning of this operation. Tom replied yes but did not offer any other details.

 

I explained to Tom that I would be interested in being involved with the rescue operation under the conditions of change I proposed. That is if the POWS were airlifted out immediately upon their rescue. If not, I would not be comfortable taking part in the operation as currently proposed, which in my view was doomed to be a complete failure.

 

In response to my question, what action would the US Government take if they became aware of our involvement, he stated they would seize our passports. In my mind, I thought the consequences would be much more severe.

 

Tom stated that he would take my concerns to the planning committee, and he would let me know the results. We shook hands, and as I was about to leave, he gave me the predictable parting warning, not to tell anyone about the plans or I would be “taken care of.”  I assured him my lips are sealed.

 

I never saw or heard from Tom Sandell again, and a few months later, as the RMK-BRJ company was downsizing as the US military withdrew, I returned to the states after nearly seven years of service in Vietnam.