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Today I read the outrageous criticisms posted by Donald Zlotnik and Sherman Batman. Instead of attacking them personally, which would be easy to do, I offer these facts in repudiation: First, Sherman Batman claimed much of what I wrote didn't happen, was wrong, etc. He called my writing on the suppressed Swedish K a "stupid statement" and insisted that SOG did not such weapons (as if that were important). Look at the April 2015 American Rifleman magazine, page 91, a photograph of SOG recon man Hurley Gilpin with a suppressed Swedish K. I carried one myself in combat -- Batman was wrong. Another "stupid statement" he cited (which I never wrote) concerned a potential rusting problem with the M16/CAR-15, and insists it was impossible because these are aluminum weapons. What I cited concerned the trigger mechanism which is steel, and was cited in Congressional testimony in 1968 as one of the Colt weapon's problems in Vietnam. Again, he was totally wrong and even misrepresented what I wrote. As for whether we sang in the club to memorialize each lost man, Batman can phone Joe Parnar, whom he knows, and learn that this is absolutely true. The song often was led by the Recon Company commander, Ed Lesesne. My writing of this book was supported by 3 years of research, which included TAPED interviews with all four living Chief's SOG (the SOG commanders) in their homes, such as Major General Jack Singlaub and General Donald Blackburn. Did they lie? It included TAPED interviews with all seven surviving SOG Medal of Honor recipients. In the 3 other cases, I interviewed the men who were with them when they died earning that Medal. In all, I interviewed more than 100 SOG veterans of all ranks, which generated 10,000 transcript pages, single-spaced. I also relied upon official award citations which described the actions in which men were awarded the Silver Star or Distinguished Service Cross. I challenge anyone to read the online citations and cite how they are different from what I wrote. My interviewees included SOG/Special Forces legends such as Dick Meadows and Billy Waugh, USAF/CIA legend, General Heinie Aderholt, aircrewmen, etc., etc., etc. My own SOG service -- 3 years in SOG, during which I ran 22 missions behind enemy lines, and flew with USAF Forward Air Controllers in support of SOG -- were hardly mentioned. It was this background that helped me write the book. Donald Zalotnik's criticisms are far more troublesome, because he attacks the character of a Medal of Honor recipient -- why, I cannot fathom -- but this has been his obsession for at least a decade. The recipient, Jon Cavaiani, passed away last year and was too much a gentleman to respond to these outrageous claims. I advised Jon to sue Zalotnik, but he did not want to revisit the hell of when he was overrun and the three years he spent as a POW in North Vietnam. Think about this: Everything about his capture and POW years was known to the Defense Department before Jon was submitted for the MOH. If any of Zlotnik's claims had substance, would he have received the Medal of Honor? Does Zlotnik know better? Both General Westmoreland and Dr. Henry Kissinger provided quotes favoring the book and its important contents. Are they liars, too? The criticisms of both Batman and Zlotnik attack the character and ignore the great sacrifices of SOG's warriors. Shame to both of you. JOHN L. PLASTER, U.S. ARMY SPECIAL FORCES, (ret)