Why Green Berets Armed an Entire Tribe With Medieval Weapons in Vietnam?

In the most advanced war America had ever fought, Green Berets handed their most loyal allies a weapon from the Middle Ages — and in the dark, on a jungle trail, trusted it more than the M16. This file opens the story of the Montagnards, the highland tribes of the CIDG program, their silent poisoned crossbows, the brass brotherhood bracelet, and the betrayal that followed the war. Sources: U.S. Army Special Forces (5th SFG) and the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) program history Historical accounts of the Montagnard (Degar/Dega) peoples of Vietnam's Central Highlands Special Forces veterans' memoirs of the CIDG camps and the Montagnard alliance Documented post-1975 persecution of the Montagnards and their resettlement in the United States (notably North Carolina)