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On November 20-21, 1970 Operation IVORY COAST was conducted
to rescue American prisoners of war (POWs) held at the Son Tay
POW camp northwest of Hanoi, North Vietnam.
The rescue operation was mounted from air bases in Thailand.
The Joint Contingency Task Group (JCTG) consisted of six
helicopters, various support aircraft, and 56 U.S. Army Special
Forces soldiers. It was a joint military operation under the
direct control of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The SF soldiers were mosting from the 6th and 7th Special
Forces Group based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The Green
Berets trained for several weeks prior to the conduct of the
rescue mission.
Planning and Rehearsal
The rescue force extensively trained and rehearsed the
operation at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida from May 25 to
November 20, 1970.
Command and Control
The joint task force was commanded by Air Force Brigadier
General LeRoy J. Manor and Army Colonel Arthur D. "Bull" Simons.
The ground force was organized into three platoons:
"Blueboy" was a 14-man assault group which would crash-land
within the prison compound on a helicopter.
"Greenleaf" was a 22-man support element. "Bull" Simons was
with the Greenleaf group.
"Redwine" was a 20-man security group that would protect the
prison area from North Vietnamese Army reaction forces and to
provide addition backup support to "Blueboy" and "Greenleaf".
LTC Elliott P. Sydnor was with the Redwine group.
Each soldier carried a survival radio and the force also had
UHF-AM and VHF-FM radios as well.
Weapons and Equipment
The raiders were heavily armed with sidearms, CAR-15
carbines, M79 grenade launchers, shotguns, and M60 machine guns.
They also had Claymore mines, demo charges, hand grenades, wire
cutters, bolt cutters, axes, chainsaws, crowbars, ropes,
bullhorns, lights, and other specialized equipment.
Aviation Support
A variety of aircraft would be used to infiil and exfil the
rescue force as well as to provide support. The aircraft
included C-130E(I) Combat Talons, HC-130P Hercules, HH-53C Super
Jollys, HH-3E Jolly Green, A1-E Skyraiders, F-4D Phantoms, and
F-105G Wild Weasel III's.
Conduct of the Raid
The Special Forces solders were flown from Takhli, Thailand
to the helicopter staging base at Udorn RTAFB by C-130 on the
evening of November 20, 1970.
The raid was unsuccessful due to the relocation of the POWs a
few weeks prior to the rescue operation. However, the raid
promped the North Vietnamese to relocate POWs from smaller camps
to more centralized locations in and near Hanoi. This resulted
in higher morale and better treatment for the American prisoners
of war.
A secondary effect of the raid was the killing of a large
number of Chinese military advisors who were also in the general
area.
Despite the failure the raid is an example of a well-planned,
rehearsed, and executed special operations mission.
References
Operation Ivory Coast - WikipediA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivory_Coast
The Son Tay Raid. A book about the raid is entitled Who Will
Go. Learn about the book at this link
https://thesontayraid.com/ and purchase the book at the
SOF News Book Shop at
Who Will Go.
"The Son Tay Raid", Air Force Magazine, by Carroll
V. Glines, November 1, 1995.
https://www.airforcemag.com/article/1195raid/
"Son Tay raider recalls the hunt for POWs in North Vietnam 50
years ago today", by Jared Morgan, Military Times,
November 21, 2020.
Kingpin: 27 Minutes at Son Tay. A documentary film
that tells the story of the courageous men who risked life and
limb to rescue Americans held in a POW camp in North Vietnam.
https://operationkingpin.com/
"The Daring Vietnam War Hostage Rescue Mission That Only
MACV-SOG Could Pull Off", by Matt Fratus, Coffee or Die
Magazine, November 29, 2019.
https://coffeeordie.com/macv-sog-son-tay-hostage-rescue/
Videos about the Son Tay Raid
Son Tay: The Most Daring Raid of the Vietnam War,
featuring Mr. Terry Buckler, United States Army Heritage and
Education Center (USAHEC), May 21, 2016, 1 hour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx9C8ynUS_U
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