The theme of Gia Vuc static display is the highly classified
US SOG radio relay site “LEGHORN” in south eastern Laos.

US Special Forces Recon Teams primarily operated in secrecy inside Cambodia and Laos where the Ho Chi Minh trail was supposedly out of reach of US troops.

Once over the fence, the US recon Team had to rely on radio for support or extraction, clear communication with their forward observation bases inside Vietnam were vital as well as often difficult. They had to rely on covey riders (Forward Air Controllers in small observation aircrafts) to often relay messages; so, possible radio relay sites where looked for.

1st Lt G Sisler (Recon team Colorado) had noted a fairly inaccessible peak in South Eastern Laos which would make an excellent radio relay site for the teams operating in that region. To test the feasibility of his idea, Recon Team Colorado led by 1^st Lt G. Sisler was inserted on the top of that peak by helicopter in January 1967. They were not expected to stay more than 7 days if that and were asked to take (deniable) WWII weapons in case they were overrun.

After setting up their two PRC 25 radios they were able to send and receive clear radio signals between the teams in Laos and the FOB at Kontum, South Vietnam, therefore providing 24 hours radio support to SOG teams in Laos. As the North Vietnamese’s forces became aware of the team presence and they try to dislodge them, Team Colorado soon fortified the pick with sand bags, mines, and barbed wire and an helipad was also created near by as any supply or reinforcement had to be flown in.

The site received the name of “Eagle Nest” which was very soon changed to LEGHORN, it was situated on a very narrow ridge some 1000 feet above the valley floor in the Attapeu Province of Laos.

It was hard to get not having any trails from the valley floor up and was hard to hit with mortars because of its narrow width. It remained under American hands until the end of the war and its radio call sign was “HEAVY DROP”  Leghorn was also known as GOLF-5.

Later on the site would house POLARIS II state of the art National Security Agency radio scanning device allowing the Americain to monitor hundreds different frequency as well as a radar guidance system. In fact SOG-NSA radio would intercept/monitor a tremendous amount of NVA radio traffic as well as hear and see NVA truck traffic moving down on a major part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail network. Almost overnight Leghorn became a “must-see” for passing US aircraft which used to sneak up at low level and then kick the afterburners and flash pass low overhead. This was also a place for aircrew to bail out where their distress signals would be heard. The site was abandoned in 1972 and heavily bombed by US aircraft to destroy it.

NSA National Security Agency: US Organization responsible for monitoring, intercepting and code breaking enemy signals

The recreated scene show one US and one Montagnard member of team Colorado. This is towards the end of their 10 days stay on Leghorn as M16 assault rifle and M79 grenade launchers have replaced the WWII  M1 carbines. Fortifications are at their enfant stage as a sandbag bunker complex with trench lines will be established later on. The SOG members wear a plain unbadged green jungle uniform (common in the early days), a PRC 25 and assortment of US equipment can be seen, this scene has been recreated from original photgraphs.

	Photo of the display, not an easy scene to recreate, as this would have been on the top of a mountain. To give an illusion of height, I got a big white sheet which was dyed light blue then clouds and a ridge line was painted on it. The big boulder seen on the photo was scratched build from cardboard boxes, polystyrene and paper Mache, the lot was given a texture and painted and weathered. The ground was a mixture of real earth and debris I got from a local wood as well as plastic jungle foliage bought.

The recreated scene show one US and one Montagnard member of team Colorado. This is towards the end of their 10 days stay on Leghorn as M16 assault rifle and M79 grenade launchers have replaced the WWII  M1 carbines. Fortifications are at their enfant stage as a sandbag bunker complex with trench lines will be established later on. The SOG members wear a plain unbadged green jungle uniform (common in the early days), a PRC 25 and assortment of US equipment can be seen, this scene has been recreated from original photgraphs.

First Lieutenant George “Ken” Sisler took over Spike Team (Recon Team) Colorado in November 1966. A few weeks after establishing LEGHORN radio site, 1^st Lt Sisler volunteer as a “straphanger” on a combined Hatchet Force operation in Laos.

 “Lt. George “Ken” Sisler was leading a patrol deep in “Indian Country” on February 7. 1967. While on patrol, his platoon was ambushed by a company sized enemy force. “Ken” deployed his men for defense and called for air strikes. Being the leader, Ken rallied his men and shouted not only orders, but also encouragement to his men. Two members of his patrol were wounded by enemy gunfire. Without hesitating, Ken left his platoon and ran back to his wounded men while under enemy fire. He grabbed one of them and started carrying him back to the perimeter when he again came under increased enemy gunfire. Ken laid the wounded man down, grabbed his rifle and killed three of the charging enemy soldiers. He then threw a grenade, knocking out a machine gun nest that was firing at his men. Ken ran back to the wounded man and dragged him into the perimeter. By this time, the enemy was attacking the left side of the position and several more men had been wounded.  Without hesitation, Ken grabbed several grenades and charged the advancing enemy force. He kept throwing grenades and firing his rifle at the oncoming enemy. His action caused the enemy assault to falter, and they began to break off the attack and withdraw. He continued to move around the area, directing his men in the defense of the perimeter and calling in more air strikes on the enemy as they left the area. During the final phase of the battle, Ken was hit by enemy gunfire and mortally wounded.”

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