Douglas L. Litterno, John Shore and Frank McCloskey were sent to South Vietnam in 1968 as part of the CNC's fifth Special Forces group headquarters. The trio had just completed their Special Forces in country training program when they volunteered for a secret project. They arrived at FOB 4 on 23 August 1968 after being briefed by camp commander Colonel Jack Warren who told them about an attack that killed 18 green burese the day before.