John Erwin Peters

John graduated from Saint Mary’s College of California with a degree in Philosophy, spent a year at the University of Paris before volunteering for the Army in 1967. Following Special Forces Training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he went to Vietnam and volunteered to serve in the top secret MACV-SOG operation. John joined a Green Beret-led team that ran missions across the fence into Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam. It was later learned that MACV-SOG suffered the highest casualty rate of the Vietnam war. Additionally John signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement that forbade him from talking to anyone about the war for 20 years. John was assigned to Strike Team Rhode Island – a recon team consisting of two or three Green Berets running dangerous operations with indigenous troops at FOB1 in Phu Bai. Following its closure he went to CCC in Kontum where he continued to run missions behind enemy lines until he completed his tour of duty in Southeast Asia.