Bo Gritz

During the Vietnam War, Gritz commanded detachment "B-36" of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

This detachment was a mixed American and Cambodian-Vietnamese MIKE Force composed predominantly of local mercenaries.

They operated in the III Corps area of southern South Vietnam near the Cambodian border.

James Gordon "Bo" Gritz (born January 18, 1939) is a retired United States Army Special Forces officer who served with distinction during the Vietnam War.

Following his military career, Gritz became involved in various attempts to rescue prisoners of war (POWs) associated with the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue.

Gritz was born on January 18, 1939, in Enid, Oklahoma.

His father was a serviceman in the Army Air Force during World War II and tragically lost his life in action.

In the wake of his father's death, Gritz was raised by his maternal grandparents.

Gritz's early education was marked by a significant event when he was expelled from his local high school for reasons not specified.

This setback, however, did not deter him from pursuing his education.

He subsequently attended the Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, a prestigious military school known for its rigorous academic and physical programs.

Gritz successfully graduated from the academy, setting the stage for his future military career.

Gritz began his military career when he enlisted in the Army on August 20, 1957.

He quickly ascended the ranks, attending Officer Candidate School (OCS) and achieving the rank of captain in 1963, followed by a promotion to major in 1967.

Among his successful missions was the retrieval of the black box from a downed Lockheed U-2 spy plane in enemy territory in Cambodia in December 1966.

After six years in Vietnam, Gritz served in a variety of assignments, including commanding Special Forces in Latin America from 1975 to 1977, serving as a Desk Officer for the Middle East, and acting as Chief of Congressional Relations for the Defense Security Agency (International Security Affairs) in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1977 to 1979.

He retired in 1979 at the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Following his formal retirement, Gritz claims, with video evidence, to have trained the Afghan mujahideen in America on behalf of the government.

General William Westmoreland, in his memoir A Soldier Reports, cites Gritz as "The" American Soldier.

Gritz received numerous military awards during his service, although some of these have been called into question.

A memo regarding his awards and award recommendations during his time in Vietnam seems to indicate that Gritz was personally involved with the recommendation of some of his medals, including the Legion of Merit, and that some of his award recommendations cited the same missions and incidents, effectively awarding Gritz multiple medals for the same missions, including the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal.

In the early 1980s, Gritz became involved in the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue, undertaking a series of private missions into Southeast Asia.

His goal was to locate U.S. prisoners of war who, according to some beliefs, had been detained since the Vietnam War by the communist governments of Laos and Vietnam, specifically in areas such as Nhommarath.

Gritz's missions were initially supported by elements of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 1981, and later financed by high-profile donors like Clint Eastwood and Ross Perot.

Operating primarily out of Thailand, Gritz used aliases such as "Richard Patrick Clark" to evade detection.

Despite his efforts, Gritz was unable to provide any concrete evidence of the existence of the POWs when he testified as a witness before the House committee headed by Stephen Solarz in 1983.

Gritz's activities were heavily publicized and controversial, with critics deeming them haphazard and poorly executed.

For instance, some commentators pointed out that supposedly secret missions involved women openly selling commemorative POW-rescue T-shirts in border towns.

In his book Inside Delta Force, CSM Eric L. Haney, a former Delta Force operator, claims that the unit was twice told to prepare for a mission involving the rescue of American POWs from Vietnam.

However, both times the missions were scrubbed, according to Haney, when Gritz suddenly appeared in the spotlight, drawing too much attention to the issue and making the missions too difficult to accomplish.

In 1983, Gritz and four of his associates were tried and convicted in Thailand of illegally importing radio equipment during their "Operation Lazarus Omega".

One of them, a former Navy SEAL David Scott Weekly also known as "Doctor Death", was also later convicted in America of smuggling explosives.

Thai authorities expressed concern that Vietnamese forces in Laos would retaliate against them for cross-border armed intrusions and threatened to jail Gritz for 20 years.

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach called Gritz's actions "a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of Laos that everyone should denounce."

In the realm of politics, Gritz ran for the United States presidency in 1992 as a candidate of the Populist Party, advocating an isolationist platform encapsulated in his manifesto, "The Bill of Gritz".

His campaign was characterized by the slogan "God, Guns, and Gritz".

Gritz's life has been marked by controversy, including questions regarding his military awards, his involvement in high-profile standoffs with federal authorities, and his involvement with the Christian Patriot movement and other right-wing militia groups.

Despite these controversies, he remains a significant figure in discussions of American military history, politics, and the POW/MIA issue.

Gritz was born in Enid, Oklahoma, and currently resides in Sandy Valley, Nevada.

He is the father of four children.