Artwork by Astute#9737
Welcome to the May News
May news is here! As our development team continues to work on the almost-final stage of the S.O.G. Prairie Fire DLC, we are pleased to share with you what the Prairie Fire community has been doing in April and May. We have veteran’s news, several awesome mods have been updated, new community missions have been released and there are SOG-themed YouTube videos to catch up on. So let's dive in…
Veterans News
Eldon Bargewell memorial honor
SOG warrior Major General Eldon A Bargewell was posthumously honored on May 20th at the unveiling of his statue raised by subscription from Special Operations warriors and supporters. The statue was created in bronze by sculptor Rip Caswell, with direct support from SOG Prairie Fire military advisers MG Ken Bowra, and Ollie and Simon from www.modernforces.com, who supplied actual SOG gear to help Rip with his design.
You can visit the Park in Washington State, or visit it virtually on the website here
Billy Waugh - SOG legend - dies
SGM Billy Waugh, a renowned figure in the special forces, passed away on April 4 at 12:42 Eastern Time. He gained legendary status due to his courageous efforts alongside Paris Davis in A-321, where he endured the loss of his leg from relentless sniper attacks. After receiving a prosthetic limb, he transitioned to SOG CCN and achieved mastery in HALO operations. Later on, working in paramilitary operations with the CIA, Billy played significant roles in tracking down Carlos The Jackal and Osama Bin Laden, and remarkably, he served in Afghanistan even in his 60s. Rest in peace, Billy—duty over life.
You can read a recent article about Billy in the NY Times here
Jim Moriarty honored
Our good friend Jim Moriarty - former marine door-gunner, Paris Davis MOH advocate, and Gold-star father - has recently been bestowed several great honors. First, he was inducted as an Honorary Member of the Special Forces Regiment. And this month saw him recognised by the Special Operations Association which made him an Honorary Life Member. The members of the SOA recognized his unwavering commitment to their creed.
Back in 1998, Jim took legal action against CNN, investing $1 million of his own funds, to address the defamation of SOG warriors in their erroneous coverage of Operation Tailwind. Since then he has successfully campaigned for the recognition of Gary Mike Rose and Paris Davis, assisting their case to receive the Medal of Honor. Jim also fought ardently for the injured soldiers stationed at the Al Asad airbase, who suffered from the Iranian missile strikes, to be awarded Purple Hearts. Sadly, Jim's son Jimmy, who served as a Green Beret, lost his life in Jordan in 2017. Notably, Jim himself served as a Marine door gunner, completing three tours in Vietnam. It is commendable that the SOA has acknowledged Jim as a brother and listeners are encouraged to explore his podcast available on our YouTube channel.
Colonel Paris Davis - Exclusive Medal Of Honor interviews
Special Forces (then) Captain Paris Davis demonstrated unwavering determination as he fearlessly engaged in a perilous encounter with 12 VC soldiers armed solely with a bayonet. Despite sustaining multiple gunshot wounds and being hit by fragmentation, his resolute mission remained unchanged—to ensure the safe return of his team. Recognizing his exceptional bravery, the President of the United States recently honored him with the prestigious Medal of Honor.
Part 3 of the Paris Davis interviews offers a captivating account of the extraordinary Battle of Bong Son. This emotionally charged narrative features intense combat, making it a story best suited for those with a strong constitution. We encourage you to watch all three exclusive Savage Game Design interviews to hear about the Colonel’s military life, his mission, and that fateful day in June of 65. It promises to be a profoundly moving experience.
Events
April Fools Day Antics
On April first we introduced this year's prank, the “Official Charlie Does Surf 1.3 Update” for S.O.G. Prairie Fire where surfable waves were announced along with fishing and of course, an amazing soundtrack with 3 New Soundtrack Songs including "Yeah man", "Whatever Dude", "We got to get out of this farm" and many more. S.O.G. Prairie Fire fans seemed somewhat disappointed that this was not real!
Friday Night Fight - Vietnam Edition - 120 PvP
In mid-April we saw the second edition of the Friday Night Fight events with S.O.G. Prairie Fire. The events consisted of 3 rounds each, with 120 players fighting in each round, lasting roughly 1 hour each.
Lcpl_Liru, alongside Rob (Eggbeast) from Savage Game Design, spectated and commented on the games.
SOG AI
Johnnyboy updated his landmark SOG AI mod and now you can use it in Global Mobilization infantry coop missions and their fabulous new Force Recon mission.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2812560646
SOG - Dialogs & Radio Comms
RT Raleigh member Proxno has released a cool mission-makers mod that has all the dialog & radio communications from the SOG Prairie Fire campaign laid out with triggers. Useful stuff for mission designers looking to add depth and immersion using S.O.G. Prairie Fires extensive audio content.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2937292025
ARVN Vietnam War
Astute has made a small infantry faction made using SOG Prairie Fire and S&S assets.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2962224009
Control Tower Khe Sanh Vietnam
Astute has also created this composition which depicts the ATC tower at Khe Sanh Combat Base in I Corps.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2968970859
Total Warzone - S.O.G. Auxiliary
Brendob47’s mod adds a variety of vehicles from S.O.G. Prairie Fire to factions in Total Warzone - Warzone 2100 Factions.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2820852346
Community mission news
[PF COOP 08] Force Recon (MACVSOG)
This mission by Nightwolf2112 is a Prairie Fire conversion for the Global Mobilization mission series created by GM DLC studio Vertexmacht.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2970708058
[SP/COOP 4] Chasing Shadows
A great mission by Recaldy: MACV helicopter went down on a nearby island. Your squad is tasked with locating it.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2961959877
[SP] GAMMA
29-Julius introduces you all to his new single-player mission “Gamma”!
Take control of James Hades, a field Agent of the CIA who has been sent out on a mission in Laos. As usual, nothing goes to plan, and it ends up in a FUBAR situation. Features:
full voice acting throughout the scenario
comfort and tracker modules enabled
hour-long single-player experience often alone, but sometimes with AI
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2980028614
New SOG history channel
Our good friend Jason Collins is a full career historian of MACV SOG. He is trusted by the black ops community and curates the private special operations facebook group where a few dedicated historians like us are permitted to meet all the distinguished veterans who served in the secret war in Laos, Cambodia, China and North Vietnam.
Along with his excellent and affordable Pucker Factor book series, Jason recently set up a new youtube channel - please subscribe to it to access his superior historical content in your feeds. It comes right from the source - the veterans who ran those incredibly hazardous missions. Thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/@MACVSOG69history
Closing remarks
We can’t yet reveal much about the much-anticipated 1.3 update to S.O.G. Prairie Fire, but rest assured, it will be fun, add plenty of new assets to your game world, and the quality bar, as always, is set very high.
We hope to bring you more details real soon, and if you want to be first in line to see the teasers of planned content just before release, make sure you join our discord! Hype week is always a lot of fun!
And once 1.3 is done, be assured we have plans that go on for the next decade. SOG Prairie Fire is no “flash in the pan”.
https://link.sogpf.com/discord