The Operation Tailwind Scandal

On 11 September 1970, 16 U.S. soldiers and 110 Montagnards from Hatchet Company B were sent deep into the Laotian jungle in support of a CIA team, during the Vietnam War. Over the next four days, they were continually attacked by overwhelming numbers of NVA. If it wasn’t for the air support of helicopter pilots like Barry Pencek, they wouldn’t have escaped alive. Twenty years in a special report CNN characterized this mission as a vicious attack on civilians resulting in a scandal that was later disproved, and resulted in the team medic’s Mike Rose  receiving a Medal of Honor. Barry gives us a blow-by-blow account of the battle and resulting controversy.

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
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