MACV, SOG - RT California One-Zero Joe Walker · 3:30am Dec 12th, 2018
Hey all. I've been trying to find more information or pictures of one of the One-Zero's of RT California, Joe "Gladiator" Walker. Been reading a book titled Secret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines With the Elite Warriors of SOG. The book is centered around the author and his experiences in RT Illinois, but he mentions exploits of other teams in his region (Command and Control Central, if memory serves me correctly). Some of the other teams being RT Hawaii, RT Arkansas, RT Washington, and RT California.
RT California was led by Joe "Gladiator" Walker, as I mentioned above, up until 1969 when he went on a tour with the CIA in northern Cambodia doing God knows what. Anyway, I was hoping someone in this subreddit would have more information about the man, perhaps a more detailed picture than the only one I've been able to find, which I've posted above.
The description that the author gave of him was that he was lanky, not imposing, had horn-rimmed glasses and looked more like a school teacher or engineer than an SOG One-Zero. Apparently, he was legendary within the community for his exploits across the border in Cambodia and Laos. On one mission in Laos, he and his team threw incendiary grenades on timed fuses into passing NVA transports carrying ammo and explosives in the dead of night. The team got away clean. The trucks later exploded, killing several NVA soldiers and destroying equipment.
Of course, due to the secretive nature of MACV, SOG, pictures of him may well be hard to come by. It would make sense. But even if you don't have or know of any images, more background information would be appreciated.
Subreddit? i'm thinking you had some other tabs open, and mis-clicked?
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