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Operation Tailwind was a covert incursion into southeastern Laos during the Vietnam War, conducted between 11–13 September 1970. The purpose of the operation was to create a diversion for a Royal Lao Army offensive and to exert pressure on the occupation forces of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). It involved a company-sized element of US Army Special Forces and Montagnard commando (Hatchet Force) of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG or SOG). Nearly 30 years later, Peter Arnett narrated a CNN/''Time magazine'' report produced by April Oliver, Jack Smith, Pam Hill, and others. The ''Valley of Death'' report claimed sarin nerve gas had been used, and other war crimes had been committed by US forces during Tailwind. This kicked off a controversy that ended in retraction of the claim by both news organizations and the firing of Peter Arnett and the producers responsible for the claims. == Operation == During late 1970 the overall US-supported military effort in the covert war in the Kingdom of Laos was floundering. Operation Gauntlet, a multi-battalion Royal Lao Army offensive that was to determine the fate of Paksong and the strategic Bolovens Plateau, was failing. A call went out to SOG's Saigon headquarters asking if the highly classified unit could insert an element near Chavane and disrupt PAVN defenses. Colonel John Sadler, SOG's commander agreed to undertake the mission, even though none of his cross-border reconnaissance teams had ever operated so deep in Laos and the target area was 20 miles (30 km) beyond the unit's authorized area of operations. The mission was launched by three platoons of Command and Control Central's (Kontum) Hatchet Company B and two United States Air Force Pathfinder Teams. The 16 Americans and 110 Montagnards, under the command of Captain Eugene McCarley, were heli-lifted from a launch site at Dak To to a landing zone (LZ) in a valley 60 miles (100 km) to the west, near Chavane. The distance to the target was so great that the men were lifted by three United States Marine Corps (USMC) Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters from HMH-463, escorted by 12 USMC and Army Bell AH-1 Cobra gunships. McCarley then called down airstrikes on enemy troop dispositions and equipment caches. The North Vietnamese responded by trying to concentrate their forces, but the US troops kept on the move, even at night. On the morning of the third day the Americans overran a PAVN bivouac and killed 54 troops. Why the Vietnamese had not fled was a quandary until members of the Hatchet Force discovered a bunker buried beneath 12 feet of earth. Inside they found a huge cache of maps and documents. They had overrun the PAVN logistical headquarters that controlled all of Laotian Route 165. Two footlockers were quickly filled with the intelligence haul, and the Hatchet Force then began to look for a way out. The North Vietnamese were closing in, but McCarley, instead of moving toward an LZ large enough for the extraction of the entire force, dropped off elements at three separate (and smaller) landing zones, catching the PAVN unprepared. Casualties incurred during the operation amounted to three Montagnards killed in action and 33 wounded while all 16 Americans were wounded. Two CH-53s were shot down during the operation.〔 Many more men of the Hatchet Force would have died had it not been for the efforts of SOG medic Sergeant Gary Rose, who was recommended for the Medal of Honor for his actions. He was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions.〔(【引用サイトリンク】work=MilitaryTimes )〕 Actions taken during the extraction operations later came under fierce dispute. Allegations were made that US aircraft, in an unprecedented reversal of policy and breach of international treaties, had utilized sarin nerve gas ("GB" in US/NATO nomenclature) when North Vietnamese ground troops began to attack the landing zones. It has not been disputed that some chemical agent was utilized, nor that both North Vietnamese and American soldiers struggled against its effects. However, most witnesses, sworn and unsworn, stated categorically that only a potent tear gas (most likely a CN/CS mixture) was used. Others, according to two members of the US media, insisted it was sarin, or a combination of tear gas and sarin.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=1678 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Tailwind」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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