A team of Special Operations personnel files through the gate of the Dak To staging base, weapons at the ready, as they prepare to launch on a classified mission into Laos. This photograph documents the final preparations for Operation Tailwind, a September 1970 MACV-SOG raid against a suspected North Vietnamese Army command complex — a mission that remained secret for nearly three decades and whose team medic, Gary Michael Rose, was ultimately awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. Project: 219487