Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I write this review with a 1-star rating with the chief purpose of debunking the only other 1-star rating on this book and a companion 2-star rating. Actually, I rate Plaster's books as 5-star. I was one of the SOG recon men of whom Plaster writes in his books. His account of one of my missions was spot on factual with no exaggerations, no literary license, no embellishment. Were there a few errors in the accounts? Possibly due to the erosion of memories over time. But Plaster interviewed dozens of SOG personnel, and in most cases sought to confirm their mission exploits both from other team members on those particular missions, and from official documents to include after action and command summary reports. In particular, Major Zlotnik (Retired), the only reviewer who rated Plaster's book with one star, claims knowledge that he does not possess. Unlike John Plaster, who was a top-notch recon team leader and possessed first hand knowledge and experience, Zlotnik served as a supply/staff officer who claims to have sat in on debriefings (which in my experience would be unlikely for a supply officer) and had access to after action reports (also unlikely) and possessed vicarious insights only. I will also point out that most of SOG's Medal of Honor recipients came from CCC, so his claims that CCN was the most hazardous SOG operation is uninformed and clearly ridiculous; note also that CCC's casualty rate also exceeded 100%. And Zlotnik's access to mission information from the other SOB forward operating bases was virtually non-existent in a compartmented intelligence environment, so he couldn't possibly pass authoritative judgement on the relative hazards. In respect to the 2-star review by Sherman Batman, please note that his SOG assignment appears to have been "circa 1968". He appears to be offended by Plaster's account of one of Batman's missions. Plaster's tour at SOG (CCC) brought a different experience. This included a significant ramp-up in enemy operations in the SOG operational areas, with greatly increased hazards and casualty rates as a result. Batman's comments on rusting of the M-16/CAR-15 safety was absolutely wrong. Many American team members used either lubricating oil or WD-40 to prevent the internal components of the safety from rusting in place. Batman is also wrong regarding the inventory of silenced weapons at CCC including pistols in .22, .32 and 9mm; sub-machine guns in .45 and 9mm (including the Swedish K) and suppressors for the M-16 rifle - - and other exotic weapons that may not have been available when Batman was in SOG. Lastly, I can personally attest to "Old Blue" being sung as tribute to fallen SOG personnel in our club. His claims of "untruths" in his review are therefor all false.