HIS SERVICE, US ARMY SPECIAL FORCES
From Robin Moore’s Book on the Green Berets, 'Ranger Bob' Golden was born, serving two tours in Vietnam for the U.S. Army Special Forces. The first was with the 5th Special Forces as an artilleryman with specialized training which consisted of Jungle Warfare Training Center down in Panama for one month of training with the 8th Special Forces Group, and then two months of Special Weapons & Tactics training at Fort Sill, and then he was off to Vietnam - for his first time.
'Ranger Bob' move up through the Army’s Ranger units and Special Forces teams, joining Mobile Strike Force Command, or MIKE Force, that operated under MAC-V SOG the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam Studies and Observation Group, or SOG (once Special Operations Group) who was a key component of United States Army Special Forces in the Vietnam War.
On his first tour in 1968-69, our father was turning indigenous tribesmen into modern mercenaries. The mission was to equip, organize and lead the Montagnards to war against the Viet Cong. These indigenous tribesmen, that still hunted with spears and crossbows, at the height of the war, grew to an army of 50,000 trained mercenaries. Their loyalty was to the Special Forces, not the South Vietnamese government.
In April of 2001, more than 2,000 men of SOG were honored for their gallantry with the Presidential Unit Citation, the U.S. military's second highest award for valor and for their heroism. Eleven of them received the Medal of Honor.
Twenty-nine years after SOG was disbanded, the units' stories are told in this book - SOG: The Secret Wars of America’s Commandos in Vietnam by author John Plaster, who is also a former SOG member who once said, "I would say that this is probably the greatest group of unsung heroes of the Vietnam War."
He returned home to officially join the Army's First Special Forces based in Fort Bragg, NC where he rose to the rank of Captain, ending his service in 1972 but not before returning to Vietnam on a Special MIA/POW Mission called 'Operation Lazarus' to bring home missing members of the brotherhood.
Arlington National Cemetery Interment
We'd like to personally thank the US Army Old Guard for the service they provide to our nation, along with ANC Rep. Charles Moore. Their services are incredibly reverent, and equally impressive. My family would also like to thank the Arlington Ladies for what they do out of love for our military members and their families.