I remember being on BN CQ as a young Spec.4 in Vicenza, Italy. My BN CSM, CSM Samuel Hernandez, walked by the CQ desk and picked up a book I had been reading called "Inside the Green Berets." CSM Hernandez thumbed through the book, pointed to some maps of Laos, and started telling me about running missions in that area recon team leader. He then walked me over to his office and showed me some plaques from B-52, Project Delta and MACV SOG, CCN.
I asked CSM Hernandez if he had ever done a STABO extraction on any of these missions. He said yes, and not only had he done a lot of them he had been in the process of a STABO extraction when the rope had broken or been cut once. He said he fell back through the trees from about canopy level but somehow landed unhurt; a search and rescue chopper picked him up the next day on his E&E route alone, the rest of the team had been killed.
I think I said something like "Wow, Sergeant Major," but wasn't sure if I really belived him or thought he was pulling my leg.
Years later I was thumbing through a book called "SOG" by John Plaster. The story was in the book, just like CSM Hernandez told it!
De Oppresso Liber!
All The Way, Sergeant Major! Airborne!