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Old 12-18-2009, 04:41 AM
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TiggerCCW UK TiggerCCW UK is offline
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Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland
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Originally Posted by Targan View Post
This one may be of most interest to our Australian posters but it was an excellent book: The Tiger Man of Vietnam. I was so impressed by the book I bought two extra copies, one for my dad and one for my future father in law. The following is lifted from the back cover:

"In 1963 Australian Army Captain Barry Petersen was sent to Vietnam. It was one of the most tightly held secrets of the Vietnam War: long before combat troops set foot there and under the command of the CIA, Petersen was ordered to train and lead guerilla squads of Montagnard tribesmen against the Viet Cong in the remote Central Highlands.

Petersen succesfully formed a fearsome militia, named "Tiger Men". A canny leader, he was courageous in battle and his bravery saw him awarded the coveted Military Cross and worshipped by the hill tribes.

But his success created enemies, not just within the Viet Cong. Like Marlon Brando's character in Apocalypse Now, some in the CIA saw Petersen as having gone native. His refusal, when asked, to turn his Tiger Men into assassins as part of the notorious CIA Phoenix Program only strengthened that belief. The CIA strongly resented anyone who stood in their way. Some in US intelligence were determined Petersen had to go. He was lucky to make it out of the mountains alive."


Petersen had previously fought in the Malaya Emergency with the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. The Montagnard people he formed the Tiger Men with were the Rhade and they ended up declaring him to be the earthly embodiment of their war god. An excellent book.
Cracking read - my brother got me a copy for Christmas last year
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