The Quiet Professional: Major Richard J. Meadows of the U.S. Army Special Forces

Preface

xv Preface This book is not an authoritative history of military actions. It is the story of a man who described himself as “just a soldier.” However , Major Richard J. Meadows did not leave war behind when he retired from the U.S. Army—long afterward he continued to fight against the kidnap gangs and drug cartels of South America. He would have been the last man on earth to call himself a hero, but a hero he certainly was to the many North Americans whose lives he touched. He was also a hero to an even greater number of South Americans during his post-military activities in Peru and Colombia. Meadows’s reputation was international and his exploits have been recognized by the Special Forces of a number of countries. Indeed , it was while serving in the British Special Forces that I first met Dick, and I am fortunate to have had him as a friend and colleague for thirty-five years. In later life Dick met the founder of the British Special Air Service, Colonel Sir David Stirling, and it was the fact that I had written Stirling’s biography that inspired Dick to ask me to set down his own story. In researching this book I met many others who felt themselves to be equally lucky in being able to call Dick a friend. I was honored when he asked me to write this book, and I was touched when a few days before his death he outlined the parameters for this agreement. He was never a bitter man, but he was sad that his nation did not always treat its soldiers with the honor that he felt they deserved. He was sad that some books and newspaper articles “threw rocks” at some fine soldiers who may have made a single mistake. He was sad that the Freedom of Information Act allowed former soldiers to divulge with impunity information that he thought was best kept secret. Mentioned in this story are a number of noteworthy military missions, many of which have been recorded in depth in excellent books. There are few factual books written about the Special Operations aspects of the Vietnam War that do not include a mention of Dick Meadows. It has not been my intention to cover old ground. xvi Preface Where these missions form part of his story, it is from the perspective of Dick Meadows that they are viewed. It was never difficult to get an opinion from Dick, but it could be extremely hard to get at the facts when the relation of those details seemed to him to put him in a heroic position. In putting the book together I have had many false starts, but I hope that with much help from his family and friends I have succeeded in getting into the mind of Dick Meadows and demonstrating his unique qualities. He also wished to send a message to the youngsters of the country that he loved so much. No matter what the misfortunes of youth and poverty may be, there is still space in America for a man to succeed with dignity. I have tried to mirror those wishes. Further honors were heaped on Meadows just before his death. Some have said that this was too little, too late, but he murmured, “What’s all the fuss about—I just did my job.” Dick and I spent many hours together recording his observations and opinions, often when he was extremely tired, as the leukemia took a rapidly progressive toll on his energy. To render my notes and recordings into accessible form, it was sometimes necessary to combine material from different parts of an interview. In other cases, I relied on my memory to reconstruct conversations that took place on an informal basis. I tried to minimize this practice and was careful not to alter the meaning of Dick’s words. I am grateful to Dick’s family for their support in this process. In my last poignant interview with him, sitting on the porch of his fishing lodge overlooking the Alaqua River, he said that his one regret, now that he was about to go on his “last patrol,” was that he had not achieved anything significant. He wished that he had had the chance to lead a hugely successful mission, to keep alive the honor with which he felt American soldiers should be regarded. Nothing significant? I leave the readers to judge that...