The following account is told from the perspective of six Special Forces veterans who conducted an obscure specialized mission near the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) have participated in sensitive but important missions, many of which have been lost to history. It is important, when possible, to recount such events lest they be forgotten. While the mission described in this article was limited in scale compared to others during the Vietnam conflict, it demonstrates the indelible character, bravery, skill, and ingenuity that have become synonymous with ARSOF.
For more than 50 years, Robert “Bob” Clayton, and the men who raised their hands for an unknown mission in Vietnam, kept a secret. The decades–old operation, tucked away in a cache of memories, military records, and photographs, could finally be pieced together when volunteers for Operation TOLLHOUSE met at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, in April 2024. This was the first time they had been together since August 1972.
The first Special Forces soldiers arrived in South Vietnam in 1957 to assist the fledgling Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). In 1962, as American participation increased, the U.S. established the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) as the unified headquarters for U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force activities. At the height of the Vietnam War, more than 500,000 U.S. personnel were deployed to the Republic of Vietnam, many fighting alongside ARVN forces. However, the U.S. population grew weary of the long war.
In June 1969, President Richard Nixon laid out his plan to withdraw U.S. forces from Vietnam. Known as “Vietnamization,” it called for an incremental withdrawal of U.S. troops beginning the following month. The plan emphasized training and equipping the South Vietnamese military to take over its own defense.1 On 11 August 1972, the last ground combat unit — 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry — departed Vietnam, leaving about 46,600 U.S. advisors remaining in country to await final withdrawal.2
5th SFG Flash7th SFG Flash
It was then that Clayton, a captain with 7th Special Forces Group (SFG), was hand–picked by Brigadier General Henry E. Emerson, commander of the John F. Kennedy Center for Military Assistance (now known as the U.S. Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School), to lead a team of ten lieutenants drawn from 5th and 7th SFGs. Strangers before the mission and with little time to get acquainted, they remained that way until the six surviving veterans reunited to share their story in 2024.3
Clayton, suspecting they would be headed to Vietnam, recalls his concern about the lack of combat experience of his volunteers. As U.S. involvement in Vietnam was ending, the Army had already begun downsizing. The drawdown called for cutting Special Forces by a third; from 9,000 to 6,000.4 Many officers he knew with combat experience had already left the service, as had senior noncommissioned officers. “I commented that most of the LT’s were green,” Clayton remembered. Emerson assured him that their Special Forces training prepared them for the mission. Emerson also directed him to bring everyone home safely.5
A Call for Volunteers
Bloise “Bo” Hill, then a first lieutenant with 5th SFG, remembers receiving the call on a Friday night in August 1972 from the adjutant of the Center of Military Assistance. He was asked if he was “still willing to go to that place we talked about?” Hill responded “yes” without hesitation and was instructed to have his bags packed and be ready to leave on Monday. “Can I tell anyone?” he asked. The adjutant responded with “no.6
Russell Brooke, then a second lieutenant with 7th SFG, remembers the request, noting that it would be a “hazardous mission to a hostile fire area.” Volunteers were interviewed and selected. They received briefings, prepared wills, and were told when to report. “The 4th of August is my birthday, so I said to my parents, “you might want to come visit because I’m not going to be around for a while here.7
TDY order, front (redacted)TDY order, back (redacted)
The volunteers received orders on 3 August 1972 to report to the First Special Operations Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, “on or about 6 August 1972.” There, they would receive training, followed by temporary duty (TDY) for about 45 days. Although the group suspected they would be sent to Vietnam, the orders were vague, with no mission details or final destination.8 They later learned that their mission, was to teach ARVN soldiers to use transponder beacons to bring in close air support from U.S. Air Force gunships.9
The USAF had been using the beacons since 1965 to assist in the destruction of enemy targets. Earlier Special Operations teams has specifically requested them to support operations in Laos. However, by late December 1970, the U.S. Army was poised to suspend the ground beacon program and the USAF temporarily ceased beacon operations on 9 March 1971.10
Special Forces revived it the following year by requesting beacon support around the time of the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive.11 According to a written account from Captain (CPT) James E. Butler, a Special Forces team from 10th SFG began teaching the South Vietnamese how to use the beacon systems in May 1972. One of the team members, Staff Sergeant (SSG) Charles D. Gipson, was killed three weeks into the mission on 26 May 1972.12
Clayton and the lieutenants from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, began a week of orientation the morning of 7 August 1972 with the 415th Special Operations Training Squadron. At Eglin, they were joined by CPT James E. Butler from 10th SFG, senior noncommissioned officers (NCOs) from various conventional Army units, and a U.S. Air Force (USAF) major and technical sergeant. The NCOs provided some combat experience, while the USAF personnel provided the technical oversight of their equipment. The training included familiarization with the AC–130 electronics capabilities and fire control systems as well as mission planning, beacon emplacement, communications, and field operations.13
CPT Bob Clayton and LT R.D. “Bob” McVey prepare to board a C-130 following a three-day mission near Mang Buc. Clayton recalls telling Brooke not to take photos. Image credit: LT Russell Brooke.
They were supporting a USAF mission, dubbed Combat Sierra/Combat Rendezvous, which related to the type of aircraft that would be used by the Air Force gunships to home in on the beacons.14 The Special Forces teams, however, adopted the name Operation TOLLHOUSE. Each of the 24 members was assigned a number. Clayton was TOLLHOUSE 21. They would technically fall under MACV when they got to Vietnam, but were to report back to Emerson at Fort Bragg. The teams were trained on several types of beacons — UPN 34 transponders, Black Crow sensors, hand–held mini ponders, and airdrop beacons.15
The new, inexperienced Special Forces officers from Fort Bragg were paired with the NCOs and assigned a translator. MACV provided the weapons, supplies, and transportation when in–county. From Eglin, the team flew to Charleston Air Force Base (AFB), South Carolina, to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, and then to Travis AFB, California.16
Loaded into a virtually empty C–5A Galaxy cargo aircraft, Kent Neal, a lieutenant with 5th SFG, said the men were eager and excited to begin the mission. They killed time by throwing a frisbee in the open cargo hull. After a brief rest at Travis AFB, the team reboarded the aircraft and their disposition swiftly turned somber for the journey to Hawaii. “The whole cargo was full of aluminum caskets so that kind of got our attention and changed the mood.17
Due to aircraft maintenance issues, it took another week to get to Vietnam. They landed in Vietnam on 21 August 1972, just 10 days after the last major troop withdrawal. Clayton and the others put their adaptability to the test as elements of the plan immediately failed to materialize. The first glitch came when the TOLLHOUSE group was initially denied permission to deplane and then nearly diverted to Thailand.18 Clayton provided the ground crew the blanket orders, which noted that the Fort Bragg officers were “Official Couriers” and “Individuals [were] authorized to carry weapons … [and] wear civilian clothes.19
Learning to Improvise
Once allowed to deplane in Saigon, the men split up into two–man Mobile Training Teams (MTTs) and spread out across South Vietnam, including Hue, Pleiku, Can Tho, Plei Me, Dak Seang, Dak Pek, Mang Buc, Mountanyard Village, Kontum, Ton Le Chon, and Chau Hiep, to train ARVN soldiers.20 Clayton and Butler, who also had Vietnam experience, handled operations and logistics. The teams moved frequently, and only Clayton knew where they were or would be going next. Clayton instructed the teams to call back to him daily to receive updates on their next training spots and with whom they would need to connect.21
Clayton ID Card (redacted)
Kent Neal recalls thinking that the ARVN forces were not very well prepared and had low morale. With his interpreter and training kit, he proceeded to instruct a dozen or so ARVN captains and lieutenants. “They were all eagerly awaiting to be informed about this miracle device and asset we were going to be providing them,” Neal said. Much later, Neal realized he was being too critical, given their situation. “Those guys weren’t on a tour for 13 months and come home. They were there until they were killed, captured, or maimed. That was the only end they had to their service, so understanding that now, I could sort of see why they might have been reluctant to engage the enemy and their morale might have been so low.22
Clayton Ration Card, front (redacted)Clayton Ration Card, back (redacted)
Bo Hill was tasked to train soldiers from the ARVN 9th Infantry Division at a compound near Vinlong. He arrived at a camp in the midst of chaos. Before he arrived, the camp had been overrun by the enemy. “The bunkers were blown from the inside of the compound to the outside of the compound,” with an estimated 30 South Vietnamese killed.23
Bloise “Bo” Hill, right, in the Republic of Vietnam with his interpreter, SSG Nuyen, in 1972.
Justin Adams, then a lieutenant with 7th SFG, recalls the mission was hard work and required maximum flexibility, with mostly ad hoc transportation and little time for sleep. “I worked like hell — and never had a day off. I never knew where I was going. I would just grab a helicopter or truck. I’d find a truck going someplace let me jump in the back.” Often on his own with no translator, Adams learned to improvise. “A couple times I made presentations where I didn’t have an interpreter. I had some great training aids that I actually modified after I got in the field, so I could work with people who didn’t speak English.” Sometimes, he resorted to drawing pictures in the sand. He sensed that they understood.24
Compassion and Culture
Paul Hill, then a lieutenant with 5th SFG, was paired with Sergeant First Class William Marks and aligning with I Corps at Camp Eagle, an Army base southeast of Huế. He trained the members of the 1st and 3rd Vietnamese Army on one of the beacon systems. He developed compassion for ARVN soldiers. “You got a great deal of respect for the soldiers that you were training. It was their country, and it was life or death for them, and we were hopefully giving them a tool to improve the likelihood they would survive longer.25
Still, the green beret officers were aware they had a lot to learn and were always on guard. Adams recalls being served lunch by a South Vietnamese lieutenant colonel. The plate of rice with sauce and “a little green thing in the middle.” Unfamiliar with native cuisine, the food was a bit spicy. “I started chomping down on that little green thing in the middle of the plate of rice and it was so hot that I thought I’d been poisoned.26
Neal said the lieutenants learned quickly, called upon their Special Forces training, and pushed aside fear and unfamiliarity to focus on the mission. “None of us had been in combat before so this was our baptism. You don’t know what to expect and then after it’s all over and you reflect on it, you think, “I was scared,” but I really didn’t have time to think about it.27
Paul Hill credits Clayton with keeping the men focused. “I think the challenges were the logistics and administration and CPT Clayton was phenomenal. He minimized any impact on us. We were out there to do our job, and he made sure we had the stuff to do it.” He also said that as young lieutenants, they learned from seasoned NCOs on the teams they led before the mission. “The ability to respond to uncertainty in that was sort of ingrained to us through a lot of great NCOs. Each of us had a team, and NCOS that have been doing this for 15, 20 years. They sort of took that expertise and said, “lieutenant, we’re going to inject this into you,” and it became part of your mantra. You expected the unexpected, and you dealt with it.28
A page from Russ Brooke’s handwritten notes detailing day-to-day details of his training missions in Vietnam.
Clayton said the operation was like a “revolving door.” All of the missions were at night to minimize detection. The two–man teams were out for two or three nights a time. They would come back with barely enough time to shower and head back out again. “Sometimes they didn’t know where they were or were going — My job was to keep them deployed.” Clayton, too, went out on missions. As the end of 45–day TDY neared, and considering the delays in getting to Vietnam, he worked to extend the mission.29 Eight of the 24 officers and NCOs who trained at Eglin AFB in August, including Clayton and Butler, were granted approval to stay through the end of October 1972.30
The Highs and Lows
Neal summed up the experience as having significant highs and lows. At times it was an adventure, but he also experienced terror and depression. In the end, was proud of his work and believes the mission mattered to the South Vietnamese who received the training.31
Bo Hill remembers returning from Vietnam to protestors when he landed in Oakland, California. “I’d never seen protestors like that before. They were yelling at us and spitting at us and [yelling] baby killer this and baby killer that.” The protestors hit a nerve, but Bo greeted them with smiles and handshakes. “I said, “no, I’m not a baby killer.” — I was smiling and laughing, and they didn’t know what to make of me.32
Most of the team returned to the United States in mid– to late September 1972. Clayton was the last to return to Fort Bragg on 12 November 1972. “Thankfully, nobody got hurt. Nobody got lost. Mission complete. We did a good job, I think.33 He “thinks” because they never got any feedback on the impact the mission had on the ARVN. The men often wonder if they made a difference. None had ever seen any statistics on the number of targets destroyed.
A U.S. Air Force historical study on the Combat Rendezvous beacon program provides some clarity. “These systems enabled USAF fixed wing gunships to deliver safe, sustained, and effective aerial fire on enemy ground forces in close proximity to friendly forces when both are invisible from the air.” By August 1972, the beacons had undergone years of testing, evaluation, and improvements. The report notes that the beacon system “saved the lives of friendly ground forces who would otherwise have died had it not been for these systems.34
Epilogue
In January 1973, the United States negotiated a peace treaty with the North Vietnamese, in which the U.S. agreed to completely withdraw troops within 60 days. In exchange, the North Vietnamese agreed to a cease fire and to release American POWs. The official U.S. withdrawal was complete in March 1973.35
The USASOC Memorial Wall highlights the toll ARSOF soldiers paid in Vietnam. Among the U.S. servicemembers who lost their lives were 796 ARSOF soldiers, including SGT Charles D. Gipson. Fortunately, all of the veterans of TOLLHOUSE made it home safely.
After returning from the mission in 1972, the Fort Bragg officers and enlisted men returned to their respective units. Some remained in the Army, while others were subject to military reductions or left the Army at the end of their service obligations. One TOLLHOUSE veteran, Russell “Russ” Brooke, tracked down the living officers who participated in the mission. In the Spring of 2024, he contacted the USASOC History Office and explained that they were having their first ever reunion at Fort Bragg in April 2024. The veterans all agreed to be interviewed as part of the reunion.
Of the TOLLHOUSE officers who shared their story, Adams left the Army in 1973 and went to law school. He then became a bond trader on Wall Street, then managed a profitable hedge fund before a retirement devoted to hunting, fishing, and climbing mountains. Kent Neal retired due to disability from a Military Freefall injury in 1974. He graduated from Law School at the University of Florida in 1977 and served as an Assistant State Attorney in Broward County, Florida, until 1992. Brooke transitioned from Active Duty to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) in 1973, where he spent another 20 years and served in Operation DESERT STORM, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He earned a Masters of Business Administration in Finance and had a successful civilian career at Coca–Cola, Delta Airlines, and finally the Transportation Security Administration before retiring in 2010.
Bo Hill achieved his dream of becoming an Army aviator and spent 22 years in the Army. After retiring as an LTC in 1993, he taught public school until 2012. Paul Hill served a combined thirty–four years on active duty and in the USAR. His last assignment was as Commanding General of the 800th Military Police Brigade during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. He also served 25 years in the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, retiring as associate director of the VA Medical Center, Washington, D.C., in 2000. He retired from the USAR as a brigadier general in 2005.
Clayton stayed in Special Operations for another decade after TOLLHOUSE, including three more years at 7th SFG. Then, at the redesignated U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center (USAJFKSWC), he served as G–3 Ops and Training, and Chief of Plans. He later served at the renamed U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Institute for Military Assistance, SF Schools, and the Combat Developments Office, where he consulted on the next generation of radar beacons. He retired as a captain in June 1983.
ENDNOTES
William Gardner Bell, Department of the Army Historical Summary: Fiscal Year 1972, Center for Military History, 1974. Department of the Army Historical Summary Fiscal Year 1972, https://history.army.mil/books/DAHSUM/1972/index.htm.[return]
“Last American Ground Combat Unit is Deactivated in South Vietnam,” TheNew York Times, 12 August 1972, Last American Ground Combat Unit Is Deactivated in South Vietnam - The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/12/archives/last-american-ground-combat-unit-is-deactivated-in-south-vietnam.html. [return]
CPT (Retired) Robert E. Clayton interview with Suzanne Harrison, USASOC History Office, 14 April 2024. Hereafter, Clayton Interview.[return]
Drew Middleton, “Returning Green Berets Face Uncertain Future,” New York Times, 12 March 1971. Returning Green Berets Face Uncertain Future - The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/1971/03/12/archives/returning-green-berets-face-uncertain-future.html.[return]
1972 Clayton Timeline, Provided by CPT (Retired) Robert E. Clayton, 29 April 2024, USASOC History Office. Hereafter, Clayton Timeline.[return]
Email from Bloise “Bo” Hill to Suzanne Harrison, Subject: Operation TOLLHOUSE, 11 April 2024. [return]
Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Russell Brooke Interview with Suzanne Harrison, USASOC History Office, 14 April 2024. Hereafter, Brooke interview.[return]
Department of the Army, John F. Kennedy Center for Military Assistance, Letter Orders Number 8-1894, “Subject: Temporary Duty “ CONUS, 3 August 1972. Copy at USASOC History Office Digital Archive. [return]
Jack S. Ballard, Development and Employment of Fixed-Wing Gunships 1962-1972, U.S. Air Force in Southeast Asia, Office of Air Force History, U.S. Air Force, Washington, DC, 1982.[return]
James E. Butler and Allen C. Tidwell, “Arsenal: Operation Tollhouse,” VVFH Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 2, page 49.[return]
“Department of the Air Force Request and Authorization for Temporary Duty,” 834th Combat Support Group, Eglin AFB, FL, 14 August 1972. Copy at USASOC History Office Digital Archive.[return]
Department of the Army 527th Personnel Service Company, Letter Order Number 10-414, Subject: Blanket Travel Orders, 2 October 1972. Copy at USASOC History Office Digital Archive.[return]
Defense Technical Information Center, “Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report, Pave Mace/Combat Rendezvous,” December 1972, on internet at DTIC ADA487390.[return]
Jonathan Jackson, Oral History of LTG Henry E. Emerson, Edited by COL James R. Dabrowski, U.S. Military History Institute, 2004. https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll11/id/1636. Hereafter, Emerson History. [return]
James R. Chiles, The God Machine: From Boomerangs to Black Hawks, The Story of the Helicopter, Random House Publishing, New York, NY, 2008, page 168-171.[return]
