BARRY TOLL |
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12/31/2009 HE'S
THE CIRCUS GUY WHO POPPED UP ON THE SCREEN AS SOG35, THEN AN ARTICLE
WHICH CLAIMED HE WAS SOG. WHEN WE GOT IN HIS ASS, HE CLAIMED HE NEVER
CLAIMED HE WAS SOG AND IT WAS THE PUBLISHER'S FAULT. WE THEN FOUND
WHERE HE TESTIFIED BEFORE CONGRESS SAYING HE WAS ASSIGNED TO STUDIES
AND OBSERVATION GROUP, ETC., FOR
THOSE INTERESTED IN REVIEWING THIS DIP SHIT: YOU
WILL ESPECIALLY ENJOY THE FACT HE POPS UP IN A BOOK AGAIN CLAIMING SOG
SERVICE, CHECK OUT THE ATTACHMENT. =============================================================== "Where We Were."
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| The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/9914109009330.xml Path of the Warrior 06/01/01 By MICHAEL HEATON 1968. Barry Toll hunkers down on the jungle floor in the tri-border area where Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam meet at the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The heat, humidity, vegetation and variety of animal life make for a kaleidoscopic sensory experience. The dense mountain rain forest is one of the world's most beautiful - and harshest - environments. Toll, code-named "Circus" for his years performing on the high wire with the Great Wallendas, is a sergeant, 4th Infantry Division LRRP/K Co.75th Army Rangers. He wears a black bandanna in place of a helmet, and his fatigues bear no patches, markings or other identification. His pack, supplies and weaponry are foreign issue and untraceable. Only the whites of his eyes show through the olive green-and-black waterproof camouflage grease that covers his face. Toll is a team leader for what the Central Intelligence Agency likes to call the "Studies and Observation Group." Its real name is Special Operations Group (SOG), a Joint Service/CIA military outfit designed for covert and clandestine activities. The Special Op directives in Cambodia and Laos include collecting intelligence on enemy numbers and location, destroying munitions, snatching North Vietnamese Army (NVA) officers, planting sensory devices and "neutralizing" as many of the enemy as possible. Its mission is "to gather strategic intelligence for the president."....
Sunday Magazine staff writer Michael Heaton recently enjoyed reading Mark Bowden's modern war classic, "Black Hawk Down." He can be reached at 216-999-4569 or through mheaton@plaind.com. E-mail: mheaton@plaind.com Phone: 216-999-4569
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Barry Toll-UPDATE I just got Barry Allen Toll's (only one on file) military history record under FOIA. It, of course, shows no SF or SOA assignments but does disclose that he served with Co C 2d Bn 35th Inf Div FEPA-RVN as a "Team Ldr LRRP" with "HHC 3d Bde 4th Inf Div" from 9/11/68 through 1/09/69 (11B20) when he becomes a patient at MHD USAH Cp Zama Japan and is then put on Reserve status from 1/27/69 to 4/25/69 when he reenters active duty and leaves active duty again on 8/15/75. He arrived in Vietnam in 3/26/68 and was assigned to the above unit as an Indirect Fire Crewman (11C10) until he became a LRRP. His training record shows that he attended pre-Recondo and Recondo school but it does not say where or when. Under "Decorations and Awards" it shows, among other things, a CIB but no awards for Valor, Purple Heart, or Air Medal but it does show an Aircraft Crewman Badge. The Cleveland Plain Dealer also requested his records and by now they have gotten the bad news. I hope the above is of interest to his many fans. One of the results of the announcement on your board about my looking for material for my book on CCC was that several people suggested I get in touch with Mr. Toll. I reviewed material by and about him on various websites and he failed the sniff test pretty quickly. Hope this helps, |
| COMMITTEE CONFIDENTIAL
Stenographic Transcript of DEPOSITION Before the SELECT COMMITTEE ON POW/MIA AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE December 1992 Washington, D.C. APPEARANCES: On behalf of the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs: [clipped] Q. Are you a veteran? Q. Would you describe your military service. Q. You served 20 years in the service? Q. So when did you join? Q. And you were in what service? Q. And what was your military specialty? Q. Were you in any particular special branch of any sort? Q. How long were you special forces? Q. What area were you in when you left in ? Q. And your rank was? Q. E7, which is what? Q. Sergeant first class. Q. Had you been stationed in Vietnam during the war at any time? Q. When was that? Q. Were you in Vietnam? Q. And what were you doing in Thailand? Q. Were you a medic there? Q. Were you a medic in Vietnam? Q. Have you been back to Vietnam? Was that the last time you were in Q. Have you been back to Southeast Asia since then? A. Yes. Q. Would you describe those circumstances. A. Okay. I went to work as an independent contractor, working
explosive Q. That was a contract you worked on? A. That was a contract. Until the middle of the summer, I went back
for 2 or Q. Okay. Help me build the chronology. You first went on ***** 1991. Q. And how long did you stay? Q. And then you came back home? Q. And then you went back again? Q. '92? Q. And you came back -- Q. Of 1992? Q. So there's two periods. Q. You said you had had military experiences in operations and
intelligence. Q. As a part of the special forces training? Q. Were you trained as an intelligence collector? Q. Were you on medic when you were in? Q. You went back in ***** 1991 for EOD-type work? Q. Do you training in that? And about when was that? |
| P.O.W. Network Note: This document is edited from
the original by including and inserting a document submitted by Barry A.
Toll to the Senate Select Committee on November 22, 1992 titled:
CORRECTIONS, ADDITIONS, CLARIFICATION TO DEPOSITION ON 26 JUNE 92 Additions in this document are enclosed in [ ]
**************************************** DEPOSITION OF BARRY A. TOLL Deposition of Barry A. Toll, a witness herein, called for examination by counsel for the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, pursuant to notice, the witness having been duly sworn by Mark T. Egan, a Notary Public in and for the District of Columbia, taken at Room S-407, The Capitol Building, Conference Room A, commencing at 1:36 p.m., and the proceedings being taken down by Stenomask by Mark T. Egan and transcribed under his direction. APPEARANCES: On behalf of the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs:
JOHN ERICKSON, ESQ.
ROBERT TAYLOR C O N T E N T S WITNESS EXAMINATION BY COUNSEL FOR BARRY A. TOLL THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON POW/MIA AFFAIRS BY MR. ERICKSON [clipped] P R O C E E D I N G S MR. ERICKSON: We are here today in the Senate Security Office to take the deposition of Mr. Barry Toll. I would ask the reporter to swear the witness. Whereupon, BARRY A. TOLL, the witness herein, was called for examination by counsel for the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs and, having been duly sworn by the Notary Public, was examined and testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY COUNSEL FOR THE SELECT COMMITTEE BY MR. ERICKSON: Q. This is a sworn deposition and all of the questions I will ask are going to be taken under oath and I am going to presume that all of your answers are truthful. You have a right to have an attorney here. Do you desire to have an attorney present? A. No, I do not. Q. I want you to know that you have the opportunity to review the transcript and make any corrections. Would you like us to send you a copy of the transcript when it is completed? A. Yes, I would. Q. We will do that. I am going to ask the reporter to mark the Authority and Rules of the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs for the Senate. (The document referred to was marked Toll Exhibit No. 1 for identification) BY MR. ERICKSON: Q. I have provided you a copy a few minutes ago. Do you have any questions that I could answer for you? These rules are very specific and I will, in essence, go over them. As I said, this is a sworn deposition. You have the right to have an attorney here. You have a right to read the transcript. And in essence, that is what I have covered. A. I have not read the rules; however, I am here to proceed to tell the truth exactly as I know it regarding these events. I don't feel it's necessary to delay the deposition in order for me to peruse them and I'm quite willing to proceed not having read them. Q. The next exhibit is going to be the notice of Senate deposition. (The document referred to was marked Toll Exhibit No. 2 for identification) BY MR. ERICKSON: Q. This is just a formal document. You are here. This, in essence, is telling you when it is going to be and everything else. If you have any questions I will be glad to answer. A. No, this is quite clear. I can't fulfill this statement here, please provide the committee with. Just I would note that it's impossible for me to do this since we're already in the deposition and it's the first time I've seen it. Please provide the committee, you understand? Q. Yes. The second one is the U.S. Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, the deposition authorization, which basically tells you that the chairman, John Kerry, has authorized this deposition. It is a formality. It lists several staffers, including my name, and Bob Taylor, who will be taking the deposition. (The document referred to was marked Toll Exhibit No. 3 for identification) THE WITNESS: Certainly. And will I be able to be provided copies of these before I leave today? MR. ERICKSON: Yes. We will give you copies. THE WITNESS: Thank you, sir. BY MR. ERICKSON: Q. What is your name? A. My name is BARRY ALLEN TOLL. Q. Where do you live? A. I live in St. Petersburg, Florida, at 2930 29th Street North, St. Petersburg, 33713. Q. Where were you born? A. I was born in East Cleveland, Ohio at the Huron Road Hospital on the 15th of November, 1947. Q. What is your Social Security number? A. My Social Security Number is xxx-xx-xxxx (removed by the P.O.W. NETWORK). Q. Where did you attend high school? A. I attended high school at South Euclid, Ohio, Memorial Junior High School, the ninth grade I attended there. Tenth grade, I attended in Florida at Northeast Senior High School in St. Petersburg, Florida. Q. Did you graduate from high school? A. No, I did not. I quit on my 16th birthday. Q. Have you taken any additional college courses, or have you completed your high school education? A. Yes, I have. I received a GED in basic training, in June or July of 1967 at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and I have attended numerous colleges and universities throughout the United States and even in Europe subsequent to those days. Q. Approximately how many college hours do you have? A. It would be very hard for me to estimate. I have had counselors tell me that all I need is to stay 30 hours in residence at some university and I could be awarded a baccalaureate, so I suspect that's somewhere in the neighborhood of 85 or 90. Q. What particular major or curriculum are you studying? A. I have studied anthropology, cultural anthropology, and in the social sciences, educational and motivational psychology. And I did have duties pertaining to that while I was in the military. Q. After you left high school, what did you do? A. In St. Petersburg, Florida, I joined a circus act and became a member of the Great Wallendas and performed as a high-wire artist for a couple of years, up until I was drafted in 1967. So in 1965 and 1966 I was on the road with the Great Wallendas as a high-wire artist, as a performer. Q. And when did you enter the United States Army? A. ON 14 June of 1967 I was conscripted and sworn at Jacksonville AFFEES Station in Florida, and immediately moved to Fort Benning, Georgia for basic training. Q. How long was your basic training? A. My basic training was 8 weeks. Q. Where was your first duty assignment? A. Well, subsequent to basic training, I was moved to Fort Polk, Louisiana, to what was called Tigerland, which was an area where persons who had already been levied for the service in Vietnam as infantrymen, training occurred there and the 3rd Brigade of the -- I can't recall the rest of the unit, but I was in Delta Company. D-4-3 was the designation of the training brigade for advanced infantry training, and then for transshipment to Vietnam. I was, however, put on a hold there for warrant officer flight training, and remained there for a short while and then received a pregnancy deferment when I had arrived at Fort Lewis, Washington in November of 1967 for movement to Vietnam. And I remained on hold there until March 1st before transiting to Vietnam. Q. And what were your primary military duties at this duty station? A. At that point I was merely, up through the training period before departing in November for Fort Lewis, Washington for shipment to Vietnam. I was merely a trainee, an infantry trainee. At Fort Lewis, Washington, once placed on hold for shipment to Vietnam, since my wife was pregnant, I did perform administrative duties at the initial reception point for the overseas replacement station for some 5 months, and processed officers and enlisted men en route to Vietnam. Q. Did you have a security clearance at that time? A. None whatsoever. I had a simple ENTNAC at that point. Q. And when did you go to Vietnam? A. My records indicate, and I would assume that they are accurate, that I arrived in Vietnam on the 9th of March, 1968. Q. And what was the command that you were assigned to? A. I was merely assigned to the 22nd Replacement Battalion, Cam Rahn Bay, United States Army, for further assignment, and I was subsequently further assigned to the 4th Infantry Division as a combat infantryman approximately 3 to 4 days after my arrival in Vietnam. I then went through an orientation course at the 4th Infantry Division headquarters at Camp Enari, Pleiku, Republic of Vietnam, and then was assigned as a combat infantryman in the 2nd Platoon of C. Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Division, 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. Q. Did you see combat in Vietnam? A. My first day in the field, I was involved in an assault at Dak To, up Hill 1062 with 105 men in my infantry company. I managed to survive. 7 days later there were 15 of the original group left, 25 in total, including the replacement we received during the course of the battle. Additionally, I saw considerable more combat in numerous fights with enemy as an Infantrymen, Squad Leader and Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Leader. Q. How long was your tour of duty in Vietnam? A. My tour of duty was originally slated for 365 days like all
Army personnel; however, I was Medevaced and my tour was cut short
after I came down with what was believed to have been cerebellum
malaria, and lately I have been informed some complications called
leptomaniasis. They still have my blood at Walter Reed or
something and are examining it, and I just Q. And what did you do after that? A. I returned home to St. Petersburg, Florida. Of course, I was in a highly debilitated physical condition, having lost 60 to 70 pounds while in a coma and not having recuperated very well. I stayed with my family. I had a newborn daughter at the time, and after about a month I went to enroll in college at St. Petersburg Junior College and I became very frustrated at the antiwar demonstrations and I felt that it was best for me to leave the country, to be quite honest with you. So I want and rejoined the military. I joined the Army and asked for assignments to Europe. I was assigned subsequently as an infantry operations and intelligence specialist in Europe and remained there until January of 1970 when I returned to the United States, to officer candidate school, to be a candidate as an infantry officer in the United States Army. Q. What enlisted grade were you discharged? A. I was discharged as a staff sergeant E-6. Q. And when you reentered the United States Army did you came back in as a staff sergeant? A. Excuse me. Allow me to correct that. I thought you were speaking of ultimately the 1975 discharge. The 1969 discharge I was a sergeant E-5. Again, I had been awarded the MOS of infantry operations and intelligence specialist because, of course, I became a long-range reconnaissance volunteer and then became a long-range reconnaissance patrolmen, and that is the military occupational speciality associated with those duties, on the last half of my tour in Vietnam. Q. And what enlisted grade did you reenter the Army at? A. As a sergeant E-5. Q. so you lost -- A. No, I lost no grade at all. Q. And what were your primary duties in Europe. A. My primary duties in Europe were to serve as a battalion and brigade level and for temporary duty assignment time at Army level the commanders of those various Army elements in the conduct of infantry operations in Europe. Q. Did you have a security clearance at this time? A. Yes. I was granted a top secret security clearance based upon a background investigation in 1969. The form 873 should be in my file somewhere. I'm not sure of the exact dates. I suspect it was probably in around July of 1969. That was awarded while I was assigned to Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry at Ashaffenberg, Germany. Q. And your next duty assignment when you left Germany? A. Was to proceed to the officer candidate school, 9th Battalion, at Fort Benning, Georgia in the United States Army Infantry Center. Q. And how long were you there? A. I remained at Fort Benning approximately 3-1/2 to 4 months. And in the third week of training I had what we now know was another recurrent malarial attack and I was forced to be recycled. I delayed a week and began the class again and then had further medical complications. I had recurrent malaria over the years a number of times. After this happened, and after about 7 weeks and I
would have to start the course entirely all over again, I had the
opportunity, I thought, to reenter, rejoin former comrades of mine from
Military Assistance Command, Studies and Observations Group, Command and
Control Detachment in Kontum, former associates there. They were
forming up to begin a new unit I applied to go on that tour. However, because of my recurrent malaria, that was rejected and I was subsequently assigned in June of 1979 to the United States Army Hawaii Command at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, again as an infantry operations and intelligence specialist. Q. And how long were you in Hawaii? A. I was in Hawaii -- the duration of the assignment was until
the end of April 1973; however, I did perform temporary duties at
numerous places. On the order of the Secretary of Defense on 24
hours notice, for example, in 1973, January through April, I replaced a
critical need assignment to the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization and
I flew to Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand and operated under the auspices of
the embassy as a liaison to the counterpart of the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff of the Thai Q. Did any of these TAD or TDY trips take you back to Vietnam? A. No, they did not. I never entered the legal area of Vietnam after I was Medevaced or its contiguous waters excepting for plane refueling in Vietnam enroute from Thailand to Hawaii or vice-versa. Q. After your assignment in Hawaii, where were you stationed? A. I had requested assignment to the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon some months in advance in anticipation of my rotation. Initially, the assignment came through; however, I was diverted while on leave and was further assigned to the Headquarters, Atlantic Command, Commander-in-Chief Atlantic, with duty with the airborne command post located at Langely Air Force Base, Virginia. Q. How long were you in that duty assignment? A. I remained in that duty assignment until approximately 4 July 1975, when I submitted the statement that you see and refused to continue my duties any further under the conditions described in my statement. I was discharged from the United States Army honorably. I believe the date of my discharge is 15 August 1975. Q. After you were discharged, what did you do? A. I immediately went into a religious spiritual retreat for 45 days with my wife and close friends. [Clarification and Addition: My response to this question on Lines 10 and 11 do not reflect the fact that this exact period, in "retreat" had been the subject of discussion in vastly more detail with your investigators. I had conveyed to them that I believed I was the subject of intensive DIA or other intelligence Community surveillance at this location and for the entire period, August 1975 through Spring, 1976. This becomes pertinent in that the Sworn Affidavit you have received from Mr. J. Lawrence Wright clearly reflects independently his recollections that the DIA solicited assistance and information from him in early 1976, well after my discharge, regarding their loss of surveillance on me, and seeking his assistance as my Military Counsel as a Judge Advocate General attorney, to help "make me surface" so as to resume surveillance. I had reiterated several times to your investigators that at this "retreat" I had been approached by what I believed was a DIA agent undercover, and so labeled him so to his face numerous times. This agent masqueraded as a person attending the retreat and resided there for some 30 days. It is my understanding that the DIA has not furnished those files of that period of extensive surveillance of me as a civilian, which would have been illegal. Your investigators have sought those files because I insisted that in my debriefings in July and August 1975 with DIA agents, I had told them specifically about the POW/MIA abandonment issue as being central to my demand to be discharged from the Army. Further, as I have told your investigators, I also reiterated to the Agent I describe above on "retreat" extensively over the month he saw, interacted and monitored me daily in discussions directly, my abhorrence of the POW/MIA abandonment. My understanding is that the DIA won't give you those extensive surveillance files which may very well contain reports on my statements to them regarding the POW/MIA abandonment.] Q. And after that, did you go back to school or did you get a job? A. I returned home to St. Petersburg, Florida, having applied
for my Veterans Administration benefits since I had no means of income
any further. I had left the Army quite suddenly, demanding to be
discharged. The VA did not contact me until I think in
October. They sent me a notice saying to come in for an evaluation
in March. I just couldn't wait that long, so I began at that point
to travel around and visit old friends. I went and visited friends
in Cleveland, Ohio. I subsequently never followed up my [clipped] |
