June 7, 1998
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States used lethal nerve gas during a mission to kill American defectors in Laos during the Vietnam War in 1970, according to the results of an eight-month investigation broadcast Sunday on the premiere of "NewsStand: CNN & Time."
The report was based on interviews with 200 people, including dozens who fought or flew on the mission, called Operation Tailwind.
Retired Adm. Thomas Moorer, a Vietnam-era chief of naval operations and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN that the Nixon White House's national security team had to approve use of the nerve gas, and that the CIA had partial responsibility for Operation Tailwind.
He confirmed that nerve gas was used, and acknowledged in an off-camera interview that the mission's target was indeed American defectors.
At the time, Nixon had pledged the United States to a policy of "no first use" of nerve gas. The American government had also signed a treaty restricting chemical weaponry, though the Senate had not ratified it.
SOG commandos carried out "black operations" against unusual targets, using unusual weapons. On Operation Tailwind, officers were briefed that anything in the non-nuclear U.S. arsenal would be available to them. That arsenal included a weapon known as "sleeping gas."
According to military officials with knowledge of the operation, that "sleeping gas" was, in fact, a nerve gas known as sarin -- the same gas that was used in the attack on a subway in Tokyo on March 20, 1995. The military name for the nerve gas was GB.
Tailwind's commander, U.S. Army Capt. Eugene McCarley, told CNN that he equipped all his men with M-17 gas masks -- masks that are designed to protect against nerve gas. The men also carried atropine, a nerve gas antidote.
A few days before the hatchet force was deployed, a reconnaissance team had been scouting the area in Laos, looking for defectors. Jay Graves, a reconnaissance team leader, saw what he called "roundeyes," meaning Caucasians, in a village base camp. He radioed the sighting back to his superiors. Graves was told to stay hidden and wait.
Jim Cathey, who was a U.S. Air Force non-commissioned officer in charge of resupply for the SOG commandos, also was in the area before the hatchet force team dropped in. He spent five hours closely observing the village base camp. Like Graves, he spotted what he believes were Americans in that village base camp.
"I believe that there were American defectors in that group of people in that village, because there was ... no sign of any kind of restraint," he said.
From the time the SOG commandos were put on the ground, they were in constant firefights. By the third day, more than half the commandos were wounded and getting low on ammunition.
According to military officials, during the evening, American planes gassed the camp with deadly sarin, using a special weapon, CBU-15, a cluster bomb unit designed to drop the nerve gas.
The next morning, the hatchet force attacked the camp, killing more than 100 people, according to McCarley and other Tailwind veterans.
Tailwind's commander, U.S. Army Capt. Eugene McCarley, told CNN that he equipped all his men with M-17 gas masks -- masks that are designed to protect against nerve gas. The men also carried atropine, a nerve gas antidote.
A few days before the hatchet force was deployed, a reconnaissance team had been scouting the area in Laos, looking for defectors. Jay Graves, a reconnaissance team leader, saw what he called "roundeyes," meaning Caucasians, in a village base camp. He radioed the sighting back to his superiors. Graves was told to stay hidden and wait.
Several former senior military officials confirmed to CNN that eliminating defectors was Tailwind's objective, but McCarley denies that was the mission's purpose.
"We weren't looking for any village," he said. "We stumbled upon it by accident."
Jim Cathey, who was a U.S. Air Force non-commissioned officer in charge of resupply for the SOG commandos, also was in the area before the hatchet force team dropped in. He spent five hours closely observing the village base camp. Like Graves, he spotted what he believes were Americans in that village base camp.
"I believe that there were American defectors in that group of people in that village, because there was ... no sign of any kind of restraint," he said.
From the time the SOG commandos were put on the ground, they were in constant firefights. By the third day, more than half the commandos were wounded and getting low on ammunition.
According to military officials, during the evening, American planes gassed the camp with deadly sarin, using a special weapon, CBU-15, a cluster bomb unit designed to drop the nerve gas.
After the camp was overrun, the hatchet force prepared to evacuate. But enemy troops were gathering on a ridge line with anti-aircraft guns. Desperate, the SOG commandos called for gas and put on their gas masks.
Two A-1 Skyraider planes dropped the special sarin-filled weapon CBU-15 on the enemy positions.
The effect of the gas was immediate. Tailwind veterans describe enemy troops convulsing and throwing up. "I don't think too many of them got up and walked away," said Tailwind veteran
Many of the American and Montagnard commandos had lost or damaged their masks during the four days of fighting. They describe mucus coming from their membranes, vomiting and convulsing -- all classic signs of nerve gas exposure.
But the SOG force got a milder dose because the down draft from the helicopters coming to rescue them dispersed the gas. All 16 Americans, though wounded, survived the operation.
Editor's Note
As the great historian Avro Manhattan proves in his book Vietman . . . why did we go? this war was just another brutal Roman Catholic Inquisition with no rules of engagement. Solders who deserted and did not want to take part in the brutal persecution of Buddhists where systematically hunted down and killed. This is an omen for the future should Rome ever accomplish her goal of disarming the American people!!