MACV-SOG in Vietnam | Dick “Dynamite” Thompson | Ep.366

The Team House

dee takos

History, Government, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.7 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2025

⏱️ 140 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this interview, retired Lieutenant Colonel Dick Thompson, a veteran of the top-secret Studies and Observation Group (SOG) in Vietnam, shares his experiences. He recounts his journey from a young enlistee to a highly decorated officer, detailing harrowing missions, the psychological toll of combat, and the unique tactics his unit used. Thompson also reflects on his life after the war and his work helping veterans with combat stress and resilience.
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00:00 - Start
09:19 - Dick's journey from enlistee to Ranger.
26:36 - His recruitment into the top-secret SOG.
29:05 - What made SOG different from other units.
35:48 - The ambush on his first SOG mission.
45:07 - A hand-to-hand fight with an NVA soldier.
1:04:25 - SOG's "black ops" tactics.
1:11:33 - The physical demands on SOG operators.
1:19:50 - Dick's career as a Ranger instructor.
1:44:31 - A discussion on PTSD and mental health.
2:11:05 - Dick's final thoughts on leadership and resilience.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Special Operations.
0:06.3	Covert Ops. Espionage.
0:11.0	The Team House.
0:13.1	With your hosts, Jack Murphy, and David Park.
0:22.4	Hey, everybody. Welcome to episode 366 of the Team House.
0:26.4	I'm Dave Park, here with Jack Murphy.
0:29.2	And tonight, our guest is Dick Thompson, retired Lieutenant Carl, who wrote a couple
0:36.4	books on MacB. Saug. The the first one is sog codenamed dynamite
0:40.0	um the one o the team leaders uh story um it basically reads like a journal i'm amazed like
0:49.2	i'm amazed at how detailed it is it reads like an action novel too, too. It's a lot of great stuff.
0:54.9	And one of the things I really appreciated was, like,
0:57.1	at the end of each chapter,
0:59.2	you had kind of a lessons learn and everything like that.
1:01.4	So thank you so much for joining us tonight, Dick.
1:05.4	Thank you.
1:06.9	Honor to be here.
1:08.8	Yeah.
1:09.1	So, you know, like the book focused on MacB.
1:15.4	Saug, and, you know, obviously that was one of the highlights of your career, but you had
1:19.0	a 21-year career.
1:22.5	But before that, when you were knee-high little Dickie Thompson running around the neighborhood,
1:29.0	tell us your origin story.
	...

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