ST IDAHO: THE SPECIAL FORCES TEAM THAT VANISHED
On May 20, 1969, a 6-man team from the notorious “MACV-SOG” special forces was inserted on a covert mission in Laos and radioed that everyone had landed safely. It was the last anyone ever heard from the team.
The team, call sign “ST Idaho,” was made up of 2 experienced American NCOs and 4 equally experienced and hard-nosed South Vietnamese, who worked closely with the American special forces. Together they were to reconnoiter the growing enemy activity along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a covert Viet Cong supply route. Because parts of the trail ran through militarily neutral territory, every MACV-SOG mission was top secret. The men had to sign a 20-year nondisclosure agreement, were not allowed to tell friends or even close family about their operations, and went into the field without national or rank insignia and without personal items such as photos or letters.
That day, ST Idaho was flown deep into Laos by helicopter and set down in a clearing in the dense jungle. It was a dangerous sector. More American aircraft were shot down here during the Vietnam War than anywhere else in Laos. On insertions like this the helicopters always stayed close by until the men on the ground radioed a “Team O.K.,” in case they ran into heavy contact and had to be pulled out fast. ST Idaho sent the “Team O.K.” and reported at 10:24 a.m. local time that they could not keep transmitting because there were a lot of Viet Cong nearby. Then it went quiet, and the team missed every scheduled radio check.
When it became clear that something had happened, every remaining MACV-SOG team volunteered for a search and rescue. ST Oregon got the job and landed heavily armed at exactly the same insertion point as ST Idaho to look for them. They also brought along a former ST Idaho member who knew the missing team’s tactics and procedures. From the landing zone they followed a small trail that ST Idaho had probably used as well. After about 50 meters the team came across strange traces: first signs of a firefight, but no dead and no wounded. On closer inspection they found the remains of concussion grenades, and still no trace of the missing recon team. Before ST Oregon could search the area any further, they were attacked by NVA forces at company strength and had to fall back to the insertion point.
During the firefight that followed, the team realized they were taking fire from American-made CAR-15 assault rifles. The enemy grenades going off around ST Oregon were American M-26 fragmentation grenades as well. The search and rescue team was flown out at the last second by helicopters that came in despite heavy enemy fire. ST Oregon lost one man killed, and some of the rest of the team were badly wounded. Because of the strong enemy presence in the area, no further search for the lost team was possible.
In the debrief, the men of ST Oregon stated that ST Idaho had probably walked into an ambush and was then knocked out by the concussion grenades. The Viet Cong knew about the covert operations of the special forces and had trained their own counter-recon specialists, who may well have taken the team members prisoner.
The status of the two Americans, SFC Lane and SSgt Owen, and of the 4 North Vietnamese is still MIA / POW (Missing in Action / Prisoner of War) today. Although many Americans were released after the end of the Vietnam War, 1,584 soldiers from that war alone are still missing. Every military and private rescue effort to free the remaining prisoners of war came to nothing. POW/MIA Day is held every year on the third Friday in September and honors the prisoners of war and the missing soldiers of all nations. 
Author’s note: if you like our articles, you can support us with a purchase in our shop (click here). We’re grateful for every bit of support!