The Don Englebreston Collection
Annotated Google Earth Pro Plan View: RT Vermont, Hatchet Force and 'On Side' Placemarks on the Vietnam-Laos Border
A present-day Google Earth Pro screen capture annotated by a researcher attempting to fix the ground positions of a MACV-SOG action involving Recon Team Vermont. Three placemarks are shown - a proposed team location at 'Booby Trap', a proposed Hatchet Force position, and a point labelled 'On Side' with its coordinates given as 14°38'58.29"N 107°33'11.79"E, placing the scene in the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia tri-border highlands. The notes panel records the open question: where the Hatchet Force actually was, and how 1st Lt. Jerry Pool, monitoring the radio, later reached the team's location. The yellow line is the international boundary; the abrupt change from unbroken forest on one side to cleared and cultivated land on the other shows how sharply modern land use follows that line. Project: 219849