all about  STABs & PBR Boats in 'nam

DRUNKEN SAILOR

Please   send   me   stories  &    Photos

 

From Robert Stoner
to:Doc Rio
Subj: SEALs/MSTs
Doc, this to help the ST-1 guys: I was with MST-2 Det CHARLIE at SEA FLOAT/SOLID ANCHOR (Nam Can) from May 1970-November 1970. The ST-1 folks that were with us at the time were: 1) Foxtrot Platoon (LT Winant, LTjg Hollow), 2) Golf Platoon (LT Dill, LTjg Huggins), 3) Zulu Platoon (LT Telfer, ENS Richards). 

MST-2 Detachment Romeo was at Rach Soi from to July 70 with ST-1 Romeo Platoon. I'm looking for some one who knows the member of Romeo Platoon and dates at Rach Soi to add to our data base of SEALs/MSTs. 

 

;all about  STABs & PBR Boats in 'nam      Naval Special Warfare Operators, SEALs, Boat Support, and Air Support


 

 

From:   Paul Wayne Cagle 
Doc Rio;  Cu Luong is the name of the Restaurant that was on the MyTho River bank at MyTho. I do not have any pics. but I ate there many times. The food was good. I remember there was a Restaurant Dog on the floor that ate scraps of food thrown to him by the Vietnamese. I was assigned to 532 and was at My Tho, Hunterdon County, and Tra Cu.

 

Paul Wayne Cagle       River Patrol Sedction 532  PBR   Vietnam

              

Paul Wayne Cagle       River Patrol Sedction 532  PBR   Vietnam


To: Doc Riojas
Subj:    Doc, these is where I served in 'nam:  My Tho, Hunterdon County, and Tra Cu. 
To me The most shoot outs were at Tra Cu on the Vam Co Dong River (Operation Giant Slingshot). I was on two PBRs that were hit by RPGs (139-sunk and 124-damaged) and was W.I.A. and awarded 3 Purple Hearts there. Dates of Purple Hearts were 31JAN69, 07MAR69, and 27MAR69.

 The last Purple Heart got me Medically Retired from the Navy. I lost my right eye while in a water born ambush. 



 From: David Clouse <regulado [at] ecpi.com>
To: namdevil [at] sccoast.net
Subject: Dinner on PBR in 'nam

Paul, As frequently occurs during our evening meal you seem to get into the conversation.Judy & I were having a small steak for supper with potato salad & broccoli.

 I don’t remember how you got into the discussion but I was remembering some of the meals you used to fix up with nothing more than C rats and what ever you used to buy from the VN’s.As I remember Akins crew was the best fed on the river.

I was telling Judy we always had to get chow started before dark as Charlie could see the flame from the small stove you used to cook with and that was a no no . we were talking about all cases of C – Rats were the same but you were still able to put together a pretty dern good meal. Only had the runs once and ain’t sure that was your fault.

 Memories are great at least some of them. Think of you often . 

David


From: Paul Wayne Cagle 
To: David Clouse 
Subj: Dinner on PBR 

 I remember that part of Nam real good. It was strange how good those C-rats tasted mixed all together. I usually had some small onions, and real rice, and nucmom(sp)-fish sauce- added to the concoction. Never, never put those scrambled eggs into anything. 

I was looking at the pics you sent out about 8 or 9 years ago. Wow, did we really do those things back then, and how did we survive those storms and wind, and rain, and insects, the intense heat, and the enemy?

 People, places, and events that will forever be with me. I am so lucky to have served with the best. And so thankful. 

Paul Wayne Cagle-Just a Sailor 

 

 

                        

Rapp and Rudy Boesch                                                   John Jauzems SEAL Team Two

           

    

We visited in 2009.  Dong Tam was wiped out and a Snake Farm and a Hospital for Snake Bite Patients is now there.

 

Dong Tam, during the war, presently it is a Snake Farm and snake bite hospital

 

 

 

 

 

Albert OCanas, PBR Sailor Vietnam: he contributed the below PBR photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

x

     

Panama City FL. Diving School Diving Boat

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

      USMC Amphib

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PT Boat 658 - A Functional, Restored PT Boat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Combat Craft Crewmen 50th Reunion

Photos contributed by "Doc" Greenough

 


photo is about three years old I was camping with some SBU-13 boat guys in Paniment Valley Calif. shooting a souvenir (SKS-56) from RVN.  The NVA 324 division soldier didn't need it anymore. doc Greenough

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who are these musicians?     email me their names please

 

 


 The guy on the left  is yours truly Jim Dickson. I have forgotten the name and River Division of the guy on the right. He's been coming to the Cupertino Veterans Memorial for eight years. I think he used to be up north near Da Nang.     Jim Dickson

 

                                    

These 2 guys are both SEALs. John Gulick (left) and I were on the same Mike boat when we were ambushed. John took over my .50 cal. after I was shot in the head. CDR Colin Supko (right) was a guest speaker at the ceremony. 

The gentleman in the center of the third photo is "Corky" Axelson who is an Army Vietnam veteran and the father of Mathew Axelson, one of the fallen SEALs represented in the monument The Guardians.

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                  

 

    

 

  

 

 

 

 

           

                                                                                     https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Mdjs8xMO--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/kk73xmjirzzclcwbfy6i.gif

                                                                           Naval Special Warfare Operators, SEALs, Boat Support, and Air Support

 

 

 

PT Boat 658 - A Functional, Restored PT Boat

 

 

 

\
On Sun, Aug 24, 2014, Al O'Canas <aocanas1  [at] tx.rr DOT com> wrote:
Photos from my Brother, Max, who is now in Viet Nam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: Ron Laratta   rflaratta@
Date: Sat, May 24, 2014 
Subject:  Story about PBRs and SEALs in Vietnam Delta
To: Erasmo Doc Riojas   docrio45@

I'm glad I checked with you. It's not like you to not respond to me. This is a better (I think) of that Story.
 The "pain in the a**" comment and the expletive in the story may have sent me over to spam........
 


                                                                  


Best Regards, Ron For the "Bad Guys" - life is good . . . UNTIL ---- 
NAVY Special Warfare shows up!

Special Warfare Story
We set out on a special mission to insert four US Navy SEALS, somewhere along the Vam Co Dong
River one moonless night. As forward gunner on the River Patrol Boat (PBR) slated for the insertion,
I loaded my normal 3,000 rounds – 1,500 rounds each tray, for my twin .50 caliber machine guns. It
took awhile to link the all the rounds together, but I always went out on patrol with the mantra that
you could never have “too much” ammunition.”


We operated on the Vam Co Dong out of Tra Cu, in an extremely hostile area south of Tay Ninh City,
north of Ben Luc. We threw up a blockade with other units and interdicted the infamous Ho Chi Minh
rail enemy supply line in III Corps between the Cambodian border - where it turned left and headed
toward Saigon.
We did a fantastic job! We suffered a lot of losses . . . of life, of our River Patrol Boats, and other
Tonight’s mission was to be “Recon Only.” Meaning, “No Contact.” Slip the SEALs in, silently, and
pick them up - a few hours later.
Two River Patrol Boats went up the river, passed the insertion point by a mile or so, and only my boat
turned off the engines. Our cover boat continued on, a little faster, a little noisier to compensate for
us. We silently floated downriver, back to the insertion point. So far, so good.
We couldn’t see anything, so we used our small radar unit briefly, and at the very last moment, to
determine our location.


My being in the gun tub on the bow meant I was to cover our approach, and hold the position by
looping a line around a tree branch or something hanging over the riverbank. I did, and the River
Patrol Boat slowly swung around to come parallel with the riverbank.
I did not hear the SEALs enter the water, I felt the boat rise, and was told to “let go” of the line. They
were inserted. I pushed off the branch to continue our silent journey downstream.
I think we were about 10 feet from the riverbank when – CONTACT! And - all Hell breaks loose on the
beach!
Rounds coming out at the boat from everywhere, tracers bouncing all over, I hear bullets hitting the
side of our boat! I’m behind my twin .50’s – looking for a target with each flash of gunfire!


The SEALs are returning heavy fire, I want to cover them, but – I don’t want to hit them, either.
Needless to say, the pilot of the boat fired up the engines and pushed the boat forward to extract the
Navy SEALs. You might say, at this point – “Radio silence has been broken.”
As the pilot nosed into the riverbank, more rounds came out at the SEALs and us.
Now, between all the noise and gunfire, I can hear many hostiles yelling, and firing – and getting
louder as they are racing towards us!
I start firing the twin 50’s “way high” – so as not to hit our guys, and hoping I’m firing over their heads!
I hear over the radio the SEAL Team leader saying, “Walk us in!” “Walk us in!!”
Which means lowering the elevation of our covering fire, little by little, until we get a cease fire.
Everyone on the boat repeats to me, “Walk them in!”
OK, here goes . . . I start firing my guns left and right and lowering the guns with each pass. Like I
was spreading peanut butter onto a slice of bread . . . . Back and forth, a little lower each time . . .
hoping to God I’m doing it right!


The awesome fire power of just one .50 caliber bullet can do major, major damage.
I threw out about 5-600 rounds by now, and continue to fire the lethal rounds.
Then – I hear a splash in front of me.

I stop firing, jump out of the gun tub, grab my M-16 and point it down, into the darkness, finger on the
trigger, and I yell, “You better be an American . . . “ “What’s the password?!”
I hear, “Just get me the fuck on board . . . !!“


That - was good enough for me!
I grabbed his flak jacket and pulled him up with one hand, and started firing with the other hand.
The three other SEALs were getting on board in the back of the boat.
‘My’ SEAL, up front, joined me in firing, and continued fire until I jumped back on the .50s and
commenced firing – again, like spreading peanut butter, - until we cleared the area.
Later, the team leader came up on the bow and said, “Fine shootin’, man. I thought we had it.”
“Then those 50 rounds came out, and covered us perfectly!”


I just said, “Thanks.” But, I was really thinking – you’re lucky I’m good! No casualties!! ©1968, 2014

Anyway, i hope you enjoy the story and photo We did a fantastic job! We suffered a lot of losses . . . of life, and sunken/damaged Boats."
Submitted by
Ron Laratta GMG2, U.S. Navy River Patrol Boats Vietnam. 1968~1969
Forward gunner of PBR140, River Patrol Section 532 – My Tho, Tra Cu, Vietnam

My Riv Sec 532 was in My Tho @ the Carter "hotel" in '68 until November when we moved over to Cu Chi and Tay Ninh.I got hit at Snoopy's Nose 2/69 on the Vam Co Dong.

 

                        

Echoes of the Mekong by Peter A. Huchthausen and  Nguyen Thi Lung  if you were PBRs in MyTho at the Victory Hotel you will like this book.

 

 

                                                                                   \

                            I think the Hiway to Tan An was FOUR (4), but in our visit to Vietnam in 2009, the Commies changed the names of streets, hiways, and racked down all the American buildings including the Vietnamese Embassy Bld.    Roy Dean Matthews, Glen Grinnage, and I traveled to SAIGON and toured the FOUR Corps area.  We took a Hydrophoil boat ride to Vung Tau which is so modern that there is nothing there we could recognize.  We returned to Saigon by VAN, it took three times the time to get back because of heavy traffic and one souvenir stop in a huge store.  Everything was dirt cheap.   We did not mess around with the CO's.   HIV is common there.

 

 

First John 4:11-18     18 In love there is no room for fear, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear implies punishment and no one who is afraid has come to perfection in love.

 

\Paul W. Cagle 

 

 


John Eascon GM2 works for SEAL Teams shows weapons to Reporters

 

 

 

 

Webmaster's NOTE: 

  Thank you "Pancho" for the article and the emails.  In 1967, out of MyTho, some early AM, we were returning to the base after an OP and a PBR came alongside our boat and asked for a Corpsman.  They had some VN gal who would have given birth to a baby but when the head of the baby popped out she crossed her legs.  The baby was BLUE already.  I suggested they take her to the VN hospital in MyTho for treatment. 

 Erasmo "Doc" Riojas HMC (SEAL) of the 7th ST-2 Platoon in MyTho

 

On Mar 8, 2014, at 6:31 AM, "Albert Ocanas" <aocanas1@wrote: 

From: Ken Delfino [mailto:allegedly_retired@
Sent: Friday, March 7, 2014 8:03 PM
To: RJC29339@
Subject: Re: picture with article attached 

Dick, While you were in My Tho, did you happen to know LTJG Dick Strandberg? He was one of our 533 patrol officers...then went up to Vinh Long and was on the barge when it as mined. On one of Dick's patrols, they picked up a pregnant lady up near Snoopy's Nose and rushed her to the civilian hospital in My Tho. The guys went to visit her the next day and they named the baby "PBR"!!!!! Notice, I did NOT start this post with "This ain't no shit!"!!!! :-) Somewhere, I have a Stars and Stripes article on this as well. I'm copying in one of Dick's men who served on PBR 112 (Delta Dawg) and maybe he has the article. Ken ----- Original Message ----- Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2014 7:42 AM Subject: picture with article attached 

<Untitled attachment 00031.jpg> Attached is a composite article from Stars and Stripes. 

all the best, 

Princeton 

Richard J. Cragg Senior Patrol Officer River Section 532 MY THO 67/68 "Princeton" Game Wardens Association-Vietnam to Present Mid West Chapter President 
651 437 3122 (Cell 612 812 8190) 

Albert Ocanas (aocanas1
image001.jpg 
(201K) 

rhfries@ 
10:08 AM (5 hours ago) 
to 535 

Good Morning to all, 

This actually happen while I was located at NSA Det-Nha Be South Vietnam during the time that we were in the process of activating River Section-535 for combat duty within the River Patrol Command in the highly contested Mekong Delta area during the Brown Water Naval build up of combat forces. This action was a real propaganda story that was played out to the local populous that we (Brown Water Navy Sailors) were there to help them out and show them a new life. 

B/R's to you all, 

Ralph J. Fries River Section-543 6/67 to 8/67 River Section-535 9/67 to 6/68 
Subject: FW: picture with article attached 

The photo was from this article, which was about River Section 532, not 533. I remember there was an article in Stars and Stripes at the time about the parents naming the baby Nguyen "PBR" Something, but I don't have that article. By the way, I didn't have anything to do with any of it. I was in 522 by this time. 

Dick, 
While you were in My Tho, did you happen to know LTJG Dick Strandberg? He was one of our 533 patrol officers...then went up to Vinh Long and was on the barge when it as mined. On one of Dick's patrols, they picked up a pregnant lady up near Snoopy's Nose and rushed her to the civilian hospital in My Tho. The guys went to visit her the next day and they named the baby "PBR"!!!!! Notice, I did NOT start this post with "This ain't no shit!"!!!! :-) Somewhere, I have a Stars and Stripes article on this as well. I'm copying in one of Dick's men who served on PBR 112 (Delta Dawg) and maybe he has the article. Ken

 ----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2014 7:42 AM
Subject: picture with article attached 
<Untitled attachment 00031.jpg> Attached is a composite article from Stars and Stripes. 
all the best, 
Princeton 
Richard J. Cragg Senior Patrol Officer
River Section 532 MY THO 67/68
"Princeton"
Game Wardens Association-Vietnam to Present Mid West Chapter President 
 
Subject: FW: picture with article attached 

The photo was from this article, which was about River Section 532, not 533. I remember there was an article in Stars and Stripes at the time about the parents naming the baby Nguyen "PBR" Something, but I don't have that article. By the way, I didn't have anything to do with any of it. I was in 535 by this time.

This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm

 

                                 

 

 

 

BACKTRACKING IN BROWN WATER 

Rolly Kidder, a PBR sailor, has just published a marvelous book in which he revisits Vietnam and then interviews the families of three friends who were lost in Vietnam in 1969. The three include a Chief Petty Officer from River Division 535, Eldon Tozer, an Army Captain, Robert Olson and a Lieutenant (j.g.) from River Assault Division 132, Jim Rost. This book is a must read for anybody who was on the rivers in any capacity or who wants to know more about what we really did. Rolly draws from his journal that he kept while in-country and recreates the frustrations, the fear, the pride, and the lighter moments of SERE training, the rivers and the whole Vietnam experience. His PBR division was assigned with the River Assault boats at Vinh Gia and in conversations with me has nothing but compliments about the "rag boats." The following is part of my review of the book which is on the back cover: Rolly Kidder has delivered a brilliant chronicle of the Vietnam conflict in the Mekong Delta with which many may not be familiar. Forty years later, he revisited Vietnam and began to track down the families of three men who had been killed, and evaluate the impact of the loss on those families. . . Kidder's recounting of his visits with the families of the three servicemen is a poignant reminder of the continuing grief, as well as pride, extant amongst many and is a fitting memorial to the Army and Riverine heroes and an honor to those who mourn them.

This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm

 

                                                                   Doug Traylor US NAVY Ret.

                                                  

During the Korea War, I was Army ROTC Cadet, worked after school each day in the Armory of the 36th Div. Texas National Guard of Italy Campaign fame WWII. Our ROTC Regiment was co-located with the 36th Div local unit in Bryan,TX 

The old Master Sgt there who was an armorer, taught me so damn much, that the Navy refused to waste funds sending me to GM "A" school an designated me a GMG ( small arms ) striker when I graduated from boot in San Diego.

 

                     

Doug Taylor 
Doug Taylor

                                                

Doug Traylor US NAVY Ret. : Allen military Academy Doug Traylor 1956, Cadet Corpral


 

 Subject:  Doc Rio,   You asked us PBR men:   Is the below story a pretty aqcurate story of the work PBRs performed in 'nam? I copied it from a Port CHarlotte newspaper on line

From: "Ken Delfino"    allegedly_retired@    Scroll  further down and Read OUR ANSWERS !
To: "Erasmo \"Doc\" Riojas" docrio45@
Sent:  Friday, January 3, 2014


       "
Port Charlotte man haunted by Vietnam memories"

In Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, US Navy, Vietnam War on December 27, 2010

Bill Schwartz was a “River Rat.” He was a brown water sailor who skippered a PBR patrol boat in the Mekong Delta area of South Vietnam in 1968 during the Vietnam War. 

When he arrived in ‘Nam he was a 1st Class Signalman attached to the 593rd Boat Division as the skipper of a PBR 32-foot fiberglass patrol boat. These boats were light, fast and lethal. 

“I could turn a 360 on a dime in my boat,” the 78-year-old former Navy man explained. “We had twin .50s up forward, an M-79 grenade launcher amidship along with an M-60 — .30-caliber machine-gun — on a stand there, too.” 

“We snuck into the area aboard two patrol boats and covered ourselves up pretty good. We sat there for several hours and waited for them. Then all of a sudden our white mice, our interpreter, said, ‘Okay guys, lock and load.’ When we were on such 'listening post' ops, we were already 'locked and loaded' so as not to give away our positions should the Cong get that close. 

One night when they were in the lead patrol boat, the second boat was hit by a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) that didn’t explode. PBR 160 with patrol chief QMC Frank Jackson on board, took an RPG in the starboard battery that did not explode. Night ambush...upper Long Tau not far from Nha Be. This was documented in a story by former LTJG Dick Strandberg. I was on 152 at the time...we were the cover boat on this patrol. I think that SM2 Walt Fanton was 160's skipper at the time. 

“It hit right near where the boat’s captain was standing. They had to helicopter in a demolition expert to extract the RPG,” he said. “After that the boat continued on its way.” I cannot honestly remember how the RPG was removed, but I've copied Walt in on this. 

“We were out in the ‘Horseshoe,’ in the Delta doing some patrolling with another boat when one of my guys said, ‘I’ve got my water skis on the boat.’ Seemed to me like a good time for us to go water skiing,” Schwartz said with a grin. “I asked the j.g. aboard and he agreed. 

“We were out there skiing in the Mekong River when a helicopter flew over and ordered me to pull the boat up to the bank. The chopper landed and out stepped Gen. (William) Westmoreland (commander of all troops in Vietnam),” he recalled. 

One of the Nha Be SEALs was caught doing this as well. "Moon River", can't remember who he was at the time (Dec, '66) took off for a meeting in Saigon on a Seawolf. He apparently forgot something and came back and there in the water...in the wide confluence of the Long Tau and Soi Rap, was a SEAL water-skiiing. Yep, he got chewed out as well! We were patrolling the middle Long Tau at the time (around the Alligator checkpoints) when we heard about it. 

“We got our tails chewed out. He wanted to know who the boat captain was. I told him it was me. Then he wanted to know: ‘Who authorized you to water ski?’ I said, ‘He did’ and pointed to the j.g. 

“Okay, you people better get back to patrolling. I never want to see any more water skiing,” the general admonished. 

Then he flew off in his chopper. 

l.bissonnette@comcast.net
 


On Jan 4, 2014, "Erasmo \"Doc\" Riojas" wrote: 

Thank you for sending me all these emails. Your historical information is fantastic, and true. thank you guys. Keep adding to it and please, pretty please, keep sending me a copy of your emails on this subject. 

bacsi Riojas 

Erasmo "Doc" Riojas https://www.sealtwo.org Merry CHristmas and a Happy New Year! 


On Sat, Jan 4, 2014 at 4:18 PM, Steve Watson < wrote: 

In Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, US Navy, Vietnam War on December 27, 2010 at 4:38 am 

Bill Schwartz was a “River Rat.” He was a brown water sailor who skippered a PBR patrol boat in the Mekong Delta area of South Vietnam in 1968 during the Vietnam War. 

When he arrived in ‘Nam he was a 1st Class Signalman attached to the 593rd Boat Division as the skipper of a PBR 32-foot fiberglass patrol boat. These boats were light, fast and lethal. 

“I could turn a 360 on a dime in my boat,” the 78-year-old former Navy man explained. “We had twin .50s up forward, an M-79 grenade launcher amidship along with an M-60 — .30-caliber machine-gun — on a stand there, too.” 

“We snuck into the area aboard two patrol boats and covered ourselves up pretty good. We sat there for several hours and waited for them. Then all of a sudden our white mice, our interpreter, said, ‘Okay guys, lock and load.


 

Sent from my iPad  Jimmorganjag 

to me, S, Ken, l.bissonnette, Scott, Pat, Bill, me The funny part of the Chieu Hoi story is that blood ran into Bill Schwartz's eyes from his forehead. He thought he was blind. That TP stopped the blood and his eyes cleared up. He was a very happy guy. As the old Irish mother said "It's all fun until someone loses an eye." Jim 

Sent from my iPad 




From: Ken Delfino  Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2014 1:00 PM To:  Cc: Erasmo "Doc" Riojas; Jim Morgan (593); Scott Beachy; Pat Madden; Bill Straight Subject: Re: Is this pretty aqcurate story of the work PBRs performed in 'nam? 

Additional input below (in red). I have never heard of the Iron Butterfly refered to as the "593rd"!!! 

Ken 


Erasmo "Doc" Riojas 2:04 PM (5 hours ago) Thank you very much. I'll look into that. I am reading two books, slow reader... Jimmorganjag 
3:52 PM (3 hours ago) 

to Bill, patmadden, swatson9, l.bissonnette, allegedly_reti., scottbeachy, me Pat, I remember the XO except for his name. Maybe your friend should come to lunch with us. Brown, Randall and Schwartz I remembered. Suter is a good bet but I am not sure. Can the XO's son get us CDR Ken Warden's address? He was CO and I liked him a lot. We should get him to a reunion. Get the XO 's address as well. Hope you get all better soon. Jim 

 

 



----- Original Message ----- 
Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2014 11:23 AM 
Subject: Re: Is this pretty aqcurate story of the work PBRs performed in 'nam? 

This is not too far from the actual events that took place. Schwartz was a Boat Captain from Sept 68 to Jan 69 we were together like two weeks, after I got there in January 1969. River Division 593 was NEVER farther South than Ben Luc on Operation Giant Slingshot when we were stationed aboard the USS Harnett County (LST 821),(Not "Hornet"), anchored just South of the Ben Luc Bridge on the Vam Co Dong River, not docked anywhere. We were never in the Mekong Delta. 

One of the three officers in the Cc addressee block might have been the jg Patrol Officer when SM1 Schwartz went water skiing and invited General Westmoreland's visit. But I doubt it. Bill Straight was the CO before me. Petty Officer Brown was killed in the Rung Sat on April 9, 1969. Schwartz had been gone since January 1969. 

I doubt that there was a firefight with over 1000 VC with only two 593 PBR's. There's nothing in our daily Patrol Reports about that incident. BM1 Williams was awarded a Medal of Honor for such a fight. 

I have seen this article before. Schwartz has never attended any Gamewardens Reunion events. 


Larry 
 

 


RE: Is this pretty accurate story of the work PBRs performed in 'nam? Inbox x Steve Watson 

4:18 PM (4 hours ago) 

---- l.bissonnette wrote: Hi Steve, 593 had all MK II's.
to Ken, l.bissonnette, me, Jim, Scott, Pat, Bill 
Just a couple comments / questions? 

Ken Delfino and I were on 152 and it was a MKI, and attached to River Section 533 operating out of Nha Be. Ken has the dates. 

We patrolled the Long Tau and Soi Rap rivers. It was just after the MSB’s were lost on the main shipping canal. We picked up more than one of the guys and did escort duty with the MSB’s 

Did 593 have any MkI’s ? I was under the impression they had MKII’s 

Larry 


From: Ken Delfino Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2014  To:  Cc: Erasmo "Doc" Riojas; Jim Morgan (593); Scott Beachy; Pat Madden; Bill Straight Subject: Re: Is this pretty aqcurate story of the work PBRs performed in 'nam? 
Additional input below (in red). I have never heard of the Iron Butterfly refered to as the "593rd"!!! 

Ken 

 


----- Original Message ----- 

From: "Steve Watson"  To: "Ken Delfino" , "l bissonnette"  Cc: "Erasmo \"Doc\" Riojas" , "Jim Morgan (593)" , "Scott Beachy" , "Pat Madden", "Bill Straight"  Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2014 3:18:42 PM Subject: RE: Is this pretty accurate story of the work PBRs performed in 'nam? 
Just a couple comments / questions? 

Ken Delfino and I were on 152 and it was a MKI, and attached to River Section 
533 operating out of Nha Be. Ken has the dates. 

We patrolled the Long Tau and Soi Rap rivers. It was just after the MSB’s were lost on the main shipping canal. We picked up more than one of the guys and did escort duty with the MSB’s 

Did 593 have any MkI’s ? I was under the impression they had MKII’s 

 


---- l.bissonnettewrote: Hi Steve, 593 had all MK II's. 

-----Original Message----- From: patmadden  To: swatson9 ; l.bissonnette <l.bissonnette@comcast.net> Cc: Bill Straight <bstr8@aol.com>; Jim Morgan (593) ; Ken Delfino ; Scott Beachy ; Erasmo "Doc" Riojas  Sent: Sat, Jan 4, 2014 10:33 pm Subject: Re: Is this pretty accurate story of the work PBRs performed in 'nam? 

Bill, Larry, Jim, Scott 

Glad to hear from you. I'm trying to resurrect myself from the flu. Bill, Larry, Jim: I agree with everything you've all said. About all I can add is that it appears to me from the close up photo of the crew, I would guess from left to right and not counting PO Schwartz, they are: GMG3 Brown, FN Randall and perhaps SN Suiter. But you guys knew them as well as I did and I may have misidentified one or more of them. 

On a related subject, it is a small world. The son of the XO of USS Harnett County when we were embarked, including the night it got hit with the 109mm rocket, works in the same Pentagon office I work in. The son has shared an e-mail or two from his dad about those times and I'm trying to get his dad's permission to pass them on to y'all because it's all part of our collective history. I will keep you posted. 

V/r Pat 




to patmadden, swatson9, l.bissonnette, jimmorgan.jag, allegedly_reti., scottbeachy, me Pat et al, I remember that the CO of Harnett County had a podium that he apparently used for captains mast that had a cat-of-nine tails tacked to the front of it. Just think what commotion that would stir up today. Bill 

 


 

RE: Is this pretty accurate story of the work PBRs performed in 'nam? Inbox x Bill Straight 1:00 PM (6 hours ago) Doc, If you want to read about River Division 593 then buy the book "Iron But... Bill Straight 

Bill Straight 

1:00 PM (6 hours ago) 

to me Doc, If you want to read about River Division 593 then buy the book "Iron Butterfly" by James Davy and Ralph Christopher. You can order it by going to Authorhouse.com. It is the life history of the division form the time we put it into operation in 1968 until it was turned over to the Vietnamese in 19 71. It is the story of a very special group of young men who were all heroes in my book. I am ever proud and thankful to have been their first CO. We lost 7 in Vietnam and have lost several since due to age and Agent Orange complications. We are a tight nit group to this day and when we have a reunion of the Gamewardens of Vietnam to Present (River Patrol Force) we have the most guys there. Our next reunion is in Seattle near the end of July or early in August. Bill Straight CAPT USN (RET)

 


----- Original Message ----- 

Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2014 11:23 AM 

Subject: Re: Is this pretty aqcurate story of the work PBRs performed in 'nam? 

This is not too far from the actual events that took place. Schwartz was a Boat Captain from Sept 68 to Jan 69 we were together like two weeks, after I got there in January 1969. River Division 593 was NEVER farther South than Ben Luc on Operation Giant Slingshot when we were stationed aboard the USS Harnett County (LST 821),(Not "Hornet"), anchored just South of the Ben Luc Bridge on the Vam Co Dong River, not docked anywhere. We were never in the Mekong Delta. 



One of the three officers in the Cc addressee block might have been the jg Patrol Officer when SM1 Schwartz went water skiing and invited General Westmoreland's visit. But I doubt it. Bill Straight was the CO before me. Petty Officer Brown was killed in the Rung Sat on April 9, 1969. Schwartz had been gone since January 1969. 



I doubt that there was a firefight with over 1000 VC with only two 593 PBR's. There's nothing in our daily Patrol Reports about that incident. BM1 Williams was awarded a Medal of Honor for such a fight. 



I have seen this article before. Schwartz has never attended any Gamewardens Reunion events. 


Steve Watson 4:18 PM (5 hours ago) Just a couple comments / questions? Ken Delfino and I were on 152 and it was ... l.bissonnette Hi Steve, 593 had all MK II's. ________________________________ From: "Steve ... Erasmo "Doc" Riojas  

9:07 PM (28 minutes ago) 

to S, Ken, l.bissonnette, Jim, Scott, Pat, Bill Thank you for sending me all these emails. Your historical information is fantastic, and true. thank you guys. Keep adding to it and please, pretty please, keep sending me a copy of your emails on this subject. 

bacsi Riojas patmadden@cox.net 

9:33 PM (2 minutes ago) 

to swatson9, l.bissonnette, Bill, Jim, Ken, Scott, me Bill, Larry, Jim, Scott 

Glad to hear from you. I'm trying to resurrect myself from the flu. Bill, Larry, Jim: I agree with everything you've all said. About all I can add is that it appears to me from the close up photo of the crew, I would guess from left to right and not counting PO Schwartz, they are: GMG3 Brown, FN Randall and perhaps SN Suiter. But you guys knew them as well as I did and I may have misidentified one or more of them. 

On a related subject, it is a small world. The son of the XO of USS Harnett County when we were embarked, including the night it got hit with the 109mm rocket, works in the same Pentagon office I work in. The son has shared an e-mail or two from his dad about those times and I'm trying to get his dad's permission to pass them on to y'all because it's all part of our collective history. I will keep you posted. 

V/r Pat 


patmadden
to Bill, Jimmorganjag, swatson9, allegedly_reti., scottbeachy, l.bissonnette, me Jim et al- 

The XO's last name is Stuart--I'll check the spelling tomorrow. I'll ask about Ken Warden's address but may not get a rapid answer. The XO, now over 70, lives in Hawaii and doesn't really like to travel but I believe I mentioned the reunion once via his son, my work colleague, and I'll mention it again. 

Am off line until at least Tues. 

Pat


This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm

Iron Butterfly 

By Ralph Christopher and Chief Jim Davy 

The true story of an elite group of men who wrote a page in Naval history. They patrolled the waterways in thirty-one foot river patrol boats powered by Detroit diesel engines with water jet-propulsion. Armed with machineguns and grenade launchers, as well as sheer guts and determination, these sailors faced danger around every bend in the river. Working together, they became one of the finest weapons in Admiral Zumwalt’s arsenal for turning back the tide of communist infiltration into Saigon, taking control of the inland waterways. These are true accounts of their bravery, which they proved time and again by spearheading operations into enemy controlled territory. United together in brotherhood, they accomplished all their missions and won their part of the Vietnam War.

This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm

 

 

 

 

                                                                                               

                                  Claud ‘Jerry’ Phillip Jernigan

Chief Warrant Officer Boatswain United States Navy Jerry enlisted shortly after high school. He quickly found his passion for the sea and toured the world three times around before the young age of 20. After the Korean conflict, he became a Boatswain mate where one of his greatest feats was mapping the Mekong Delta up to Laos. Thereafter he practiced his boatswain trade and worked his way up to become Chief Boatswain. He later became lead swimming instructor at officer candidate school (OCS) in Rhode Island. After his time at OCS he learned about a new Navel program for Swiftboats (aka Brownwater Navy), for which he had a great passion, and later retired in 1971.

 

 

 

  Emails about the HX. of SEAL STAB boat

----- Original Message ----- 
From: James and Cheryl GRAY 
To: rstonercrd21 [at\ msn.com 
Sent: Monday, May 25, 2009 8:56 PM 
Subject: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

Bob, You were good to share the Hawkins photos with me, please accept these and pass on to him. You might want to pass theses on to Dan, he hasn't got the Hawkins stuff up yet, been very busy on Boat. Happy Memorial Day, V/R Jim G.


                                        


From: Robert Stoner [mailto:RStonerCRD21 [at] msn.com] Sent: Monday, May 25, 2009 9:13 PM To: Bill Moreo; Blas Mojica; Bob Rieve; Dan Withers; Erasmo "Doc" Riojas; Tom Hawkins; CAPT Michael R. Howard, USN (Ret); Ty Zellers; Tom Hawkins; Steve Thomas; Ralph Christopher; Norm Olson; Kerry Ruth; John Woody; james s. thomas Subject: Fw: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 
Guys, 
I just got some really great photos from Jim Gray that show the first SEAL Team Assault Boats (STAB) brought to RVN by ST-2 in 1967. MST and ST used them for about 15 months before they were worn out and replaced by the LSSC. 
Note that these are LIFE magazine photos! I wonder how LIFE was able to publish them because so much of the MST/SEAL/UDT operations were classified. I've contacted Jim to see if he can supply some additional information. Please post and circulate with your MST/SEAL-2 guys that were in RVN in 1967 and 1968. 

Bob Stoner 

 


Original Message -----
From: James and Cheryl GRAY
To: rstonercrd21@msn.com
Sent: Monday, May 25, 2009 8:56 PM
Subject: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

Bob, You were good to share the Hawkins photos with me, please accept these and pass on to him. You might want to pass theses on to Dan, he hasn't got the Hawkins stuff up yet, been very busy on Boat. Happy Memorial Day, V/R Jim 

G. 


 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: John Woody 

To: 'Robert Stoner' ; 'Bill Moreo' ; 'Blas Mojica' ; 'Bob Rieve' ; 'Dan Withers' ; 'Erasmo "Doc" Riojas' ; 'Tom Hawkins' ; 'CAPT Michael R. Howard, USN (Ret)' ; 'Ty Zellers' ; 'Tom Hawkins' ; 'Steve Thomas' ; 'Ralph Christopher' ; 'Norm Olson' ; 'Kerry Ruth' ; 'james s. thomas' 
Cc: John Woody 
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 7:39 AM 
Subject: RE: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 
Bob, 
Good photos of the STABS as we knew them. 

I have found several B&W photos of the Binh Thuy Tri hulled STAB in the '68 time frame. I will attempt to get them digitized and sent to you. 

The group also has several photos of the Binh Thuy LCPL with the mini-gun installed. This is one of the two mini-guns I carried to Vietnam in my personal luggage when I relieved as the third OIC MST2. The other one was installed on the MST2 heavy Mike boat. 
Remember that correspondents were always riding with us. They just took the photos and used them. 

John W. 


From: Robert Stoner [mailto:RStonerCRD21 [at] msn.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 9:44 AM
To: John Woody Subject: Re: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

Good information, John. 

Do you remember how many of the PowerCat STABs made it to RVN and which dets used them? I've gotten conflicting numbers on how many were built by ST-2. One source says 3 and one 4. One thing agreed upon is one STAB never made it from LCrk. It was being airlifted by a CH-46 and the slings broke. That STAB landed in a base parking lot and killed a car.


These are two photos from Tom Hawkins at NSWF taken during the airlift trials. 
Above photo: STAB pickup. 


Below photo: STAB getaway. 

The survivors were sent to RVN, but there's where memories get hazy. Were two or three boats used there? All the people who were associated with the STAB conversions of the PowerCat boats have passed away. 

By the way, Danny Leger is the son of Ray Leger who owned PowerCat Boats. Danny has a website dedicated to his father's boats that were so much a part of his life. He was very surprised to know that several of the PowerCat boats were converted by ST-2 and subsequently used in action in RVN. I've posted photos to him and he's put them on his site. Apparently, the PowerCat boat in its various models has a sort of cult status among boaters. It's interesting how things sort themselves out. 

Bob 


----- Original Message -----
From: John Woody
To: 'Robert Stoner'
Cc: John Woody
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 5:10 PM
Subject: RE: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 
Bob, 

Before MST 2 and MST 3 were combined by me, MST 2 had two. One with me and the LCPL at Binh Thuy and one with the Mike boat. 
There must have been three in country. The third was at MST 3. I do not remember how the engines were divided up. I had two new 100 hp Mercs at Binh Thuy. 
John W. 


 

Original Message -----
From: Comcast (via vqME)
To: Robert Stoner ; Bill Moreo ; Blas Mojica ; Bob Rieve ; Dan Withers ; Erasmo "Doc" Riojas ; Tom Hawkins ; CAPT Michael R. Howard, USN (Ret) ; Ty Zellers ; Steve Thomas ; Ralph Christopher ; Kerry Ruth ; John Woody ; james s. thomas Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 10:25 AM
Subject: Re: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 


An Observation: The two STABS were designed and built by Jack Macione and brought in country by SEAL Team TWO. The personnel in the photos are from SEAL Team ONE. Just curious....perhaps someone can explain this.

 Norm Olson 


----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Stoner
To: Norm Olson
Cc: Ty Zellers ; Erasmo "Doc" Riojas ; CAPT Michael R. Howard, USN (Ret) ; Tom Hawkins ; John Woody ; Jim Gray Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 1:42 AM
Subject: Fw: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

All, 

Norm Olson asked why the two STABs in Jim Gray's recent photos showed ST-1 folks and not ST-2. John Woody who was the MST OIC at Binh Thuy during this time has a possible explanation: Two STABs were assigned to MST-2 at Binh Thuy (ST-1 was there); MST-3 at Nha Be had the other STAB and ST-2 was there based on the following timeline. 

According to our MST/SEAL rouster at www.warboats.org, MST-3 was located at Nha Be from 16 Oct 1967 until combined with MST-2 in 1968 (exact date unknown). Foxtrot Platoon, ST-1 was a Nha Be from August 1967 to February 1968. Third Platoon, ST-2 was at Nha Be from June 1968 to December 1968. Not known is whether an ST-1 or ST-2 platoon was at Nha Be during the February to June 1968 period. Whatever information you may have for this time would be appreciated. 

Regards, Bob 


----- Original Message -----
From: Comcast (via vqME)
To: John Woody ; 'Robert Stoner'
Cc: 'Ty Zellers' ; 'Erasmo "Doc" Riojas' ; 'CAPT Michael R. Howard, USN (Ret)' ; 'Tom Hawkins' ; 'Jim Gray' ; John Woody
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 1:08 PM Subject: Re: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

To all, Thanks for clearing up my misunderstanding of the deployment of the STABs to Vietnam. 

Norm Olson 


 


Original Message -----
From: John Woody
To: 'Robert Stoner' ; 'Norm Olson' Cc: 'Ty Zellers' ; 'Erasmo "Doc" Riojas' ; 'CAPT Michael R. Howard, USN (Ret)' ; 'Tom Hawkins' ; 'Jim Gray' ; John Woody
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 8:28 AM Subject:
RE: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

Bob, 

The combination of MST 2 and MST 3 took place during or right after Tet ’68. Capt Gray ordered me to combine the two units. I sent a “unless otherwise directed” msg to BSU One who passed it on to SpecWar about the combination. 

John W. 

 


 

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Stoner
To: Bill Moreo ; Blas Mojica ; Bob Rieve ; Dan Withers ; Erasmo "Doc" Riojas ; Tom Hawkins ; CAPT Michael R. Howard, USN (Ret) ; Ty Zellers ; Steve Thomas ; Ralph Christopher ; Kerry Ruth ; John Woody ; james s. thomas ; Comcast (via vqME)
Cc: Jim Gray Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 10:49 AM
Subject: Re: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

Hello, Norm. 

I've got a inquiry to Jim Gray to find out if he knows any details about these photos. Also John Woody (Gamewardens) worked with these boats during his tour in RVN -- as I recall he bought over six spare engines for them when he deployed. Which MST detachments operated these STABs and where they operated from is an on-going research project. Do any of you or your contacts have any operational experience with these first STABs? 

Here are a couple of photos taken during airlift trials of the STAB at LCrk. On one lift, the slings failed and the airlift trials boat dropped into a parking lot and killed a car. That boat didn't go to RVN. These photos are courtesy of Tom Hawkins at NSWF. 

The STAB boats were conversions of the PowerCat Model 23T. The PowerCat company was founded by Ray Leger after WW2 who designed and built both double and tri-hull power boats. PowerCat had both outboard and inboard engine designs. Ray was into racing and teamed with Mercury on the power boat racing circuit. 

Ray's company started with wooden designs and then gradually went to fiberglass. There was a time when both wood and fiberglass boats were being made at the same time, but fiberglass won out in the end. The company started on the West Coast, but moved to Texas after its facilities were destroyed by a fire. Danny Leger, Ray's son, has a website dedicated to the PowerCat boats his father built. Danny was very surprised to learn about the SEALs using modified PowerCat boats in RVN. 

Regards to all, Bob ----- 


----- Original Message -----
From: wshark79[at]aol.com
To: jimthomas07[at]comcast.net ; RSTONERCRD21[at]msn.com ; taftchamber-randy[at]bak.rr.com ; blasmojica[at]yahoo.com ; neptune590[at]netzero.com ; jwoody[at]texas.net ; ichasethesun[at]yahoo.com ; docrio45[at]gmail.com
Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2009 9:02 AM
Subject: Fwd: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 


BOB, AS I SAID BEFORE,THE STAB I SAW IN NHA-BE IN OCT "67" WAS USED BY SEAL TEAM-1,THIS MAY BE THE ONE THAT JIM GRAY HAS REFERRED TO AS DAMAGED. IT WAS LYING UPSIDE DOWN ON THE BEACH NEXT TO THE PIER'S AT NHA-BE RIVERINE BASE,I REMEMBER IT HAD NO MOTORS ON IT,WHEN I ARRIVED AT NHA-BE WE WERE USEING BOSTON WHALER"S OFF OF THE MIKE BOAT FOR INSERTIONS AND EXTRACTIONS FOR SEAL TEAM-1 ,LATER ON WE EMBARKED SEAL TEAM-2 AT NHA-BE, I BELIEVE EARLY "68". I NEVER REALLY TOOK A CLOSE LOOK AT THE STAB AS I TOOK THE MST -TEAM WORD FOR IT THAT IT WAS NOT SERVICEABLE. 

BILL MOREO 


-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Stoner <RStonerCRD21[at]msn.com>
To: wshark79[at]aol.com
Cc: neptune590[at]netzero.com; james s. thomas <jimthomas07[at]comcast.net>; Jim Gray <jgrayptf24[at]msn.com>
Sent: Fri, 29 May 2009 4:27 pm
Subject: Re: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

Hello, guys. 

Well, that answers one question about what happened to one of the STABs. 

Jim Gray, said that another STAB had a hull failure while underway and the crew had to be taken off before it sank. Can you confirm? Do you have any commo with other STAB users? I copied Jim Thomas as he's our resident alumni director. He may have contacts with some of the operators. 

Bob




-----Original Message-----
From: John R. Rapp <neptune590[at]netzero.com>
To: wshark79[at]aol.com
Sent: Fri, 29 May 2009 11:02 am
Subject: RE: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

Bill, 

The ambush was when I was actually in Binh Thuy and we were operating down on the South China Sea just north of the Bassac River. 

The STAB was from Binh Thuy / Can Tho, and the IBS and then the Whaler replaced the STAB after its destruction on the attempted helo recovery… 

I drove the IBS and Whaler on later operations. 

Pretty funny seeing that piece of junk fall from the sky and shatter into a million pieces. By the way – that was the third and final sinking of that damn boat. Two other near sinkings were up on the Bassac River (West of Binh Thuy), of which one of the near sinkings we (the LCPL) pulled up along the STAB – and pulled the squad out of the rapidly sinking STAB onto the LCPL I can’t remember which platoon was there, but, it’s possible that Larry Bailey might have been on that operation… 

On the South China Sea operation of which there were a few over my tours in the Delta,,, anyway - I think Seaman Dennis Thompson may have been the insertion driver on the op. but I could be wrong. I drove the LCPL form Bin Thuy on that particular operation… 

I am still not clear when the first LSSC’s you guys worked on came into theater? 

Did we get one in Binh Thuy before I returned to the states, and before I returned to My Tho in 1968? 

Those operations you and I were on were during my My Tho tour in 1968… 

Time really creates some confusion on certain things!!! 

YBIA - John 

John R. Rapp - Marine Safety Deputy Washtenaw County Sheriff 
 neptune590[at]netzero.com 



From: wshark79[at]aol.com 
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 9:57 AM
To: neptune590[at]netzero.net; RSTONERCRD21[at]msn.com; taftchamber-randy[at]bak.rr.com
Subject: Re: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

SORRY JOHN, I FORGOT ABOUT OUR OPS DOWN IN MY-THO, I REMEMBER NOW THE STAB IN MY-THO,I NEVER PULLED AND OP WITH ONE ,BUT I HAVE SEEN THEM DOWN THERE AND I DO REMEMBER THE AMBUSH WHERE YOU GUYS GOT SHOT UP, SO YOU WHERE THERE, WHEN WE STARTED USEING WHALERS, AFTER YOU LOST YOUR STAB? WE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE WHALER IN THAT IT HAD A LOW FREE-BOARD, FULLY LOADED WITH A SIX-SEVEN MAN FIRE TEAM PLUS TWO MAN CREW. IT WAS NOT VERY SEAWORTHY UNLESS WE WERE AT HIGH SPEED, AT LOW SPEED PBR'S WAKE WOULD SWAMP US IF WE WERE NOT QUICK ENOUGH TO PUT THE BOW INTO THE WAKE, I KNOW OF AT LEAST TWO TIMES THEY CAPSIZED DUE TO PBR'S WAKES, AND WE LOST 1 SEAL DUE TO DROWNING. 

YBIA BILL 



-----Original Message-----
From: John R. Rapp <neptune590[at]netzero.com>
To: wshark79[at]aol.com Sent: Fri, 29 May 2009 9:33 am
Subject: RE: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 Bill, 

I too drove a Boston Whaler on many operations after the STAB was destroyed… 

We also used the IBS for a few operations until the Whaler was ready for ops. 

It was one of the Whalers I was on when we were ambushed on insertion; wounding Davey Sutherland and Jerry Stamey. The steering was shot out, and the top of the throttle control was shot off as well. We continued the insertion by me operating the throttle stub, and Mckendrick providing steering control by wrapping his arms around the motor. 

I believe it was Lt. Bishop / Bravo squad on my Whaler; Lt. Fred Trani was with the Alpha squad which I had inserted approximately an hour before into the same A/O on the beach… 

The Whaler was a better small boat than the STAB, as it could withstand battle damage, maintain sea-worthiness in high seas, and still float (unlike the STAB). The STAB may have been fast, had two engines, and light armor, but, it was undependable in that any wave over the stern would sent the damn vessel down stern first with only the bow sticking up out of the water. 

The last STAB operation I remember; we were inserting out on the South China Sea and the STAB took water over the stern on insertion. The vessel was left floating near the beach, eventually becoming beached on the shore, while the platoon continued on the planned operation. 

The LCPL under Lt. Thompson's command provided offshore security over night, occasionally firing the .50 caliber in short bursts over the hull, and from time to time lobbing 60mm mortar rounds into the tree line. 

After the completion of the operation the next day, the platoon set up a defensive perimeter inside the tree line on the beach. 

The next day a helicopter recovery was attempted. The copter came in and hovered over the wreck while the vessel was rigged for the attempted lift. The STAB was rigged, lift started, altitude was gained as the flight path proceeded towards the open water, the STAB rigging let go and the boat crashed into the South China Sea – breaking into thousands of pieces. 

With the STAB totally destroyed, two slicks arrived a short time later and extracted the platoon from the beach… End of operation!!! 

John R. Rapp - Marine Safety Deputy Washtenaw County Sheriff 
 neptune590[at] netzero.com 



From: wshark79[at] aol.com [mailto:wshark79[at] aol.com]
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 8:55 AM
To: RSTONERCRD21[at] msn.com; taftchamber-randy[at] bak.rr.com; neptune590[at] netzero.com; ichasethesun[at] yahoo.com 

Subject: Fwd: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

BOB, THE ONLY STAB I REMEMBER WAS BEACHED UPSIDE DOWN IN NHA-BE, AND I WAS TOLD THE TEAMS PREFERRED THE BOSTON WHALERS THAT MYSELF AND RANDY MILLER, RICK SHEPARD DROVE THROUGH THE 67-68 TIME FRAME. 

BILL MOREO 




-----Original Message-----
From: doc rio <docrio45 [at] gmail.com>
To: Robert Stoner <RStonerCRD21[at] msn.com>; Bill Moreo <wshark79[at] aol.com>; Blas Mojica <blasmojica[at] yahoo.com>; Bob Rieve <sealoa[at] earthlink.net>; Dan Withers <dwithers[at] rodaxwireless.com>; Tom Hawkins <tomhawkins[at] cox.net>; CAPT Michael R. Howard, USN (Ret) <udtsealm[at] bellsouth.net>; Ty Zellers <tyzellers [at] comcast.net>; Steve Thomas <Daiuymap[at] aol.com>; Ralph Christopher <rwchristopher[at] cox.net>; Kerry Ruth <Kerry.Ruth[at] msn.com>; John Woody &l t;jwoody[at] texas.net>; james s. thomas <jimthomas07[at] comcast.net>; Comcast (via vqME) <trident33@comcast.net> 
Cc: Jim Gray <jgrayptf24@msn.com> 
Sent: Thu, 28 May 2009 9:57 pm 

Subject: Re: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

Thanks to all of you for keeping me informed about our origional STAB. We, the 7th platoon, turned one upside down in the south china sea back in 1967. Our LDNN lost a foot, and Jack Rowell saved his head by pushing the screw with his M-16. The weapon was a total loss, but Jack did not get one scratch. 

We referred to it as boat by Mattell, same as the M-16, rifle by Mattell. Both did the job in that primitive era of SEALs at war, or whatever it is called. 

Semper Fi ! HooYah 

Erasmo Doc Riojas; SEAL Corpsman (Ret)

 


----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Stoner
To: Erasmo "Doc"  Riojas
Cc: Bob Rieve ; Frank Anderson ; Frank Toms ; Jack Frost ; Norm Olson ; CAPT Michael R. Howard, USN (Ret) ; Tom Hawkins ; Ty Zellers ; Jim Gray ; Roger Clapp ; John Woody
Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2009 5:28 PM
Subject: Re: Naval Special Operators in RVN, 1966-1968 

All, 


As you can see from the dialog I've been having with various folks, I've been investigating the use of the first STAB boats in RVN during 1967. However, this has led to another problem: who was there and where and when. 

I'm trying to get a handle on what MST, SEAL (and UDT) outfits were deployed from the 1966 to 1968 time frame. At our site www.warboats.org under Boat Support Units > Mobile Support Team TWO > Roster MST/SEALs incomplete roster of where people were from 1966-1971. The later years are getting filled-in, but the early years are a real mess as far as who was deployed and where they were at is concerned. 

I'd ask you all to search your memory banks and any associations you have and any files you may have retained to help fill-in the gaps. Thanks to all in advance. Your help on this project will be greatly appreciated. 

Also, when you visit the warboats.org site and notice any misspelled names or incomplete information, please let me know ASAP. It is our intent to make this MST/SEAL/UDT roster as complete as possible for historic value. Only the people who were actually there can help at this point because much of those early years' records have been destroyed. 

That's why I'm appealing to the "human records" who made the history. 

Regards, Robert H. Stoner, GMCM (SW) (Ret)

 


 

----- Original Message -----

From: Jack Lynch

To: 'Bill Langley'

Sent: Sunday, May 31, 2009 7:08 AM

Subject: RE: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967

Hello all you old guys,

I was in SEAL Team Two 10th Platoon in My Tho from April to October 1968 and we didn’t have any LCSR’s there at that time.  We only had the ole Catamaran hull with two 125 HP Mercury engines at that time.  Now, we did have the Mike boat Battleship as well.  We inherited these from Doc Rio, Mike Boynton, Bob Gallagher’s platoon.

 The Mike boat had a deck big enough to land a helo if needed, 5 50 cals, 106 recoiless, and the mini gun.  We use to come back at 3 or 4 in the morning and drill holes in the boat so it could drain and then at 2 or 3 in the afternoon we would fill the holes with fiberglass resin so it would be good to go in the evening again.

  I did that with Pierre Bertz.  When the boat finally gave out and just wasn’t making it Rudy Boesch and Al Quist our platoon officer took me to Dong Tang and we borrowed a 16 foot Whaler from the Army but didn’t ask or tell them we were going to use one of their 20 or so Whalers.  By the way, we did this op in broad day light, with and Army guy untying me to test the boat engine.

 They thought I was from and maintenance activity.  We got back to My Tho pulled it out of the water, pulled the big Johnson off it and painted it camo colors, and some Army guys came up and looked at it and said, nope that’s not our boat.  We put one of our Mercury's on it and that’s what we operated until we left country in October. 

I think the LCSR’s came shortly after we left in October. 

Great memories of how to fight a war!

Jack Lynch

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From: Jack Lynch

To: 'doc rio'

Cc: 'Robert Stoner'

Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 12:45 PM

Subject:  PASS THIS ON TO : Jack Lynch, President of UDT SEAL Assn, Little Creek Virginia

Your right Bob, and Rio your right to.  The LCSR never made it over there and would not have done well with those two big turbo jet engines in them.  And what I meant to put down was LSSC vs the LCSR in my remarks below.  Thanks for bringing that to my attention.  Doc Rio, Thanks for sending Dick Cyrus email.  He looks good.  Forward this to him if you would.  Hope all is well with him and wondered where he disappeared to.  Dick, drop me a line as some of your class mates are looking for you.

Jack  

 

 


 

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Stoner
To: helen Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2009 1:55 PM
Subject: Re: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967


Was this ST-2, 7th Platoon when you were there? What records we have of ST-2 involvement don't start before 1968. Anything you could tell us about your guys would be appreciated. Was ST-2 assigned to the My Tho op area at this time?

Bob




----- Original Message -----
From: Doc Riojas
To: Robert Stoner
Cc: Larry Bailey ; richard marcinko Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2009 5:08 PM
Subject: Re: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967


I forgot; yes we relieved an ST-2 SEAL platoon in MyTho. Richard Marcinko and Larry Bailey's platoon were also in MyTho, i'll make them CC's and see if they answer you.

Rio


 

----- Original Message -----
From: Larry Bailey
To: Doc Riojas ; Robert Stoner
Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 3:15 PM
Subject: Re: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967


A couple of corrections:

Rick was in the My Tho platoon, but it was Fred Kochey's platoon. Rick was assistant platoon commander. My platoon was in Can Tho.

I was also aboard a STAB when it went down by the stern in the Bassac River. It was not due to hull problems, however, and it didn't actually sink. It just flipped. I know. I was the last guy to be recovered!

There was no STAB in Nha Be in 1967, as those craft were unique to ST-2. It is possible that ST-2 transferred one of them to Nha Be.

Larry

 


----- Original Message -----
From: Randy Miller,  Taft Chamber
To: jimthomas07@comcast.net ; RSTONERCRD21 [at] msn.com ; blasmojica [at] yahoo.com ; neptune590 [at] netzero.com ; jwoody [at] texas.net ; ichasethesun [at] yahoo.com ; docrio45 [at] gmail.com ; wshark79 [at] aol.com Cc: jgrayptf24 [at] msn.com ; dwithers [at] rodaxwireless.com
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 12:27 PM
Subject: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 


Hi all, 

I was with MST-3 at Nha Be from Oct 67 to Apr 68 but don't remember a Stab being there. I can tell you as a boat driver that the Boston Whaler floats upside down just fine from first hand experience. We were on a night op and pulled up behind a PBR. I was having engine problems and the order was given to move out. 

There was a PBR, Bill Moreo in the other Whaler, the other PBR and myself and my gunner. The 2nd PBR hit the throttle and the wash from the jet pump swamped my boat and we overturned and we went straight to the bottom of the river. I pulled the lanyard of my life vest and popped up along side the whaler, my gunner popped up underneath. 

We were floating away from where the other boats were heading. We got the boat ashore and waited for them to come back for us. We tied the whaler up to a PBR and towed it back to Nha Be. The drivers seat came loose and was dragging underneath and the engine was still attached. We lost the fuel tanks and battery, an M-60, M-16, M-79, and radio. But she still floated flat even with the engine attached. When ever we'd get to much water in the boat we'd get out in the middle of the channel and get the speed up and pull the plug in the bottom to suck the water out. 

We did that alot due to when we were on the beach and waves from other boats crashed over the side or rear of the boat. I have fond memories of the Boston Whaler and its capabilities. We could get 6 Seals on board with the two of us and get the boat up on plane. The Chrysler 105 engine had plenty of power but it required special oil/gas mixture and we ran out of the oil. Regular oil wouldn't due as I blew up an engine because of over heating. If I were to buy a boat my first choice would be a Boston Whaler.

 Randy 'Bear' Miller


Original Message -----
From: Erasmo "Doc" Riojas
To: Randy Miller,  Taft Chamber; jimthomas07 [at] comcast.net ; RSTONERCRD21 [at] msn.com ; blasmojica [at] yahoo.com ; neptune590 [at] netzero.com ; jwoody [at] texas.net ; ichasethesun [at] yahoo.com ; docrio45 [at] gmail.com ; wshark79 [at] aol.com Cc: jgrayptf24 [at] msn.com ; dwithers [at] rodaxwireless.com
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 
Subject: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 

Wow!

YES!

we quit using the Boston Whaler during my first tour in MyTho when we had to insert more than four men.

 

We got swamped by a PBR, same as you did and damn near lost one SEAL, his name is Roy Dean Matthews. The driver had no problems, he was only wearing swim trunks.

 

He refused to let his Stoner go and struggled in the bottom mud to allow his life jacket to bring him up to the surface.

 

I dropped my M-16 and much later when the tide was down was found by a district chief (VN).  We went back the next morning to dive for the weapons, we only recovered one Stoner.

 

Our LT Peterson was setting up an OP with that villiage chief and he saw my weapon.  My M-16 was painted green with brown spots and the sling was replaced with a heavy nylon line.  It was impossible to see another one like it !

"LT" asked him to trade it for his own.   The Chief said it was a VC weapon and refused to trade it. 

 

We wanted it because we were testing some chrome barrels from COlt Arms in CONN. and it had more rifling the the standard ones.   We were supposed to return those barrels when we returned to CONUS.

 

We never again used the Boston Whaler for Ops.   Good for water skiing, no?

 

We had a Mattell STAB with us while in MyTho 1967-68 and of course the Mike boat that towed it to our Op areas.

 

Your story will be on my web page  www.sealtwo.org/ zero02.htm

 

Doc Rio


The "Green Ship" Fleet in Vietnam consisted of a number of WWII LST's which were converted

into APB's.  Self-propelled barracks ships and ARL's converted into small boat repair ships. 

 Used on the  brown waters of the Mekong Delta.                                 By Albert B. Moore, 


----- Original Message -----
From: Larry Bailey To: Robert Stoner
Cc: Doc Rio
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 8:53 AM
Subject: Re: Help for the MST/SEAL/UDT roster at the warboats.org site 

Bob, 

Here are the members of ST-2 Det Alpha 1967. We were at Binh Thuy. 

Squad Alpha: OIC: LT Larry Bailey; Leading CPO: ETC: Leonard Waugh Squad members: GMG2 Harry Mattingly; PO2 Charles Detmer; PO2 Kenneth Estok 

Squad Bravo: OIC: LT Bob Gormly; Leading CPO: BMC J. P. Tolison Squad members: CPO Robert Gallagher (note: Bob may have been leading CPO, vice J.P. Tolison); 

I don't remember the other guys right now, but I think I can come up with them. 

BTW, CAPT Ron Yeaw, USN (Ret.) probably has EVERYTHING you could want. He rescued all the ST-2 records from Vietnam days as they were about to be destroyed. I can put you in touch with him. Ron saved my butt several years ago when the records he had rescued at ST-2 proved that Dick Marcinko was lying about me and the operation he was describing in "Rogue Warrior." 

Call me at 252-975-3764, and let's talk about this. 

Larry

 

 

 

 

 

EMails on Boat Support Unit and SEAL History in the 'nam

 

Riojas, 

Bob Stoner didn't ask me for anything. 

My platoon was Third Platoon. My assistant plt. cdr. was Bob Gormly. We were in 'Nam from February to July 1967 and lived in the old barracks in Binh Thuy before the new base was built. 

We had a STAB assigned to us, and Second Platoon (in My Tho) had one assigned to them. At first, the boats were driven by SEALs, but later on BSU-1 took them over. 

LB


From: Robert Stoner
 

To: larrywb [at] suddenlink.net 
Cc: Erasmo "Doc" Riojas 
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 1:35 AM 
Subject: Help for the MST/SEAL/UDT roster at the warboats.org site 


Dear CAPT Bailey, 

Any help the UDT-SEAL Association could give us in updating the rouster for the MST/UDT/SEAL units deployed in RVN from 1966 to 1971 would be greatly appreciated. 

I've been beating the bushes for several years with various folks including Norm Olson, Bob Rieve, Mike Howard, Tom Hawkins, and Tom Richards. I've managed to get some bits and pieces of information, but the best I can say is we've still got a lot of gaps -- especially for the years 1966 to 1968. We get more complete information from late 1968 to 1971, but we still have problems. 

Roger Clapp, who took over for Don Crawford as historian at SpecWarCom is facing the same problem. Most of the records from the 1966 to 1971 time period have been thrown out and subsequently destroyed. This is true both of the boat squadron files and those of the teams. 

What information we do have (and precious little it is) was preserved by GMCM (CC) Jim Gray who did a lot of dumpster diving as these records were purged in the mid-1980's. The records that he retrieved are hit-and-miss at the very best. All that we can do is try to reconstruct things using whatever memories and documents that various folks still have or have preserved in personal papers. 

If we don't capture this information now, I am concerned that the history will be lost forever. Whatever help the Association could provide would be a tremendous help. I would be pleased to serve as the point-of-contact for this effort. 

The path to the site is: 
1. Search for www.warboats.org. 
2. Select "Boat Support Units." 
3. Select "Mobile Support Team TWO". 
4. Select "Roster MS


----- Original Message -----
From: Jack Lynch
To: 'Bill Langley'
Sent: Sunday, May 31, 2009 7:08 AM
Subject: RE: STABs of SEAL Team 2 in 1967 Hello all you old guys, 

I was in SEAL Team Two 10th Platoon in My Tho from April to October 1968 and we didn’t have any LCSR’s there at that time. We only had the ole Catamaran hull with two 125 HP Mercury engines at that time. Now, we did have the Mike boat Battleship as well. We inherited these from Doc Rio, Mike Boynton, Bob Gallagher’s platoon. 

The Mike boat had a deck big enough to land a helo if needed, 5 50 cals, 106 recoiless, and the mini gun. We use to come back at 3 or 4 in the morning and drill holes in the boat so it could drain and then at 2 or 3 in the afternoon we would fill the holes with fiberglass resin so it would be good to go in the evening again. 

I did that with Pierre Bertz. When the boat finally gave out and just wasn’t making it Rudy Boesch and Al Quist our platoon officer took me to Dong Tang and we borrowed a 16 foot Whaler from the Army but didn’t ask or tell them we were going to use one of their 20 or so Whalers. By the way, we did this op in broad day light, with and Army guy untying me to test the boat engine. 

They thought I was from and maintenance activity. We got back to My Tho pulled it out of the water, pulled the big Johnson off it and painted it camo colors, and some Army guys came up and looked at it and said, nope that’s not our boat. We put one of our Mercury's on it and that’s what we operated until we left country in October. 

I think the LCSR’s came shortly after we left in October. 

Great memories of how to fight a war! 

Jack Lynch

           

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Robert Stoner

To: doc rio

Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 10:46 PM

Subject: Re: MST crowd were certifiable for driving those boats

Doc Riojas,

One day we took a daylight recon of the area behind the SOLID ANCHOR base and went where we'd never gone before in the MSSC. We went west on the Song Cau Lon until we hit a canal that sent us north and then curved around to the east. Several clicks after the turn, we put the bow on the bank (mangrove swamp, about 6 inches underwater) and dropped off the SEAL squad. The first guy's foot that hit the water sent several snakes swimming off in various direction. (You're well aware of the numbers of poisonous vs. non-poisonous snakes in RVN.) 

I thought to myself: "OK, Charlie can blow the boat out from underneath me, but I AM NOT GETTING OFF!" 

The squad itself went about six to ten feet into the swamp and were lost to our sight. 

We waited nuzzled to the bank acting as radio relay while the SEALs mucked about for about two hours. They called us for an extraction in some distance further down the canal. No contact was made. We picked them up with out incident and proceeded east on the canal until we hit a north-south T-intersection. We turned south and came back to the Song Cau Lon on the canal that formed the east side boundary of the base! The whole SOLID ANCHOR base was really a big island surrounded by a large river and canals. I never new that before today's operation. Of, course, if I'd been a Seawolf aircrewman or pilot I would have. 



Here's an airborne shot of SOLID ANCHOR about late 1970, early 1971. The Big Muddy going from the LH corner to the top middle is the Song Cau Lon. The Small Muddy off the main river headed toward the center middle of the photo is the canal that we came back on. The base itself is built on the sand pile in the middle of the photo. The small patch of sand next to the big bomb crater opposite the canal that acts as the base boundary is the KCS camp. SEALs Leon Rauch and Bob Searls were advisors to the KCS there. During the time we were there (May-Nov '70), they uncovered two double agents among them. Bob was Leon's brother-in-law.  Robert Stoner 

We used to joke that SOLID ANCHOR was the world's biggest sandbox because it took over $6 million worth of sand, brought in on huge barges, to make a solid foundation for the base that was built there. 

Shortly after we got to SF/SA, we were heading down river to the South China Sea when we came around the bend and two Swift boats were pounding the beach defending a tug that was towing a sand barge. (I don't know if the barge or the tug had been hit.) Anyhow we zoomed-in to help and joined the firefight with our .50s and M60s. About the time we joined the fight, a couple of Seawolves joined-in. Charlie decided that he'd really screwed the pooch and stirred up a hornets' nest. They disengaged and did some very fancy E&E. The Seawolves kept chasing them and we went on our way.

Bob Stoner


 

 

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Stoner
To: doc rio
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 2:45 PM

Subject: Re: MST crowd were certifiable for driving those boats 

Doc Rio, 

Another SF/SA story. One of the SEAL platoons (GOLF, ST-1) snagged a VC weapons cache (with some very interesting weapons, BTW). For some reason, I wasn't on the op, but I heard about it when the grapevine had it the NILO was checking out the booty and there was a Russian .51 caliber among the capture. 

Me being the curious kind of guy -- and never having seen a real Russian DShKM (1938/46) 12.7x108 millimeter heavy machine gun -- I went looking for the cache. It turns out I didn't have to go far because it was all laid out next to the showers and heads between our hooches' back door and the front doors of the three SEAL huts. 



Above: A Russian DShKM (1938/46) on an AA tripod.

I came around the side of the MST hut and there was the NILO with a clipboard taking notes. "Excuse me, Lieutenant, they said there was a Russian .51 caliber among the weapons the SEALs captured; where is it?" 

The NILO said, with some scorn and condescension, "Over there" and pointed to an American AN-M3 .50 aircraft machine gun. I said, "Ah, that's not a Russian .51 caliber." 

The NILO said, "What do you mean? No American .50 looks like that; it has to be a Russian gun." I said, "No it isn't and I will show you why." I went over to the gun, flipped it over on its right side and there, beneath the right ammunition feedway it said: "Machine Gun, Caliber .50, AN-M3, manufactured by Springfield Armory, Springfield, Mass." 

The NILO looked surprised (like he got hit in the face with a bucket of ice water). He then said, "What about the other stuff (meaning weapons). I went down the line: "That one's a U.S. M1 carbine with a home-made VC stock; those are three M1 Garand rifles that have been re-barreled to 7.62 NATO with old Mini-gun barrels; those are Chinese copies of the American M2 60mm mortar, the .50 caliber we've already identified; those are Chinese Type 53 copies of the Russian Model 1944 7.62x54R carbine; some Chinese built M22 or Type 56 copies of the Russian AK-47, and a Chinese Type 56 or M21 export version of the Russian SKS-45 carbine." 


Above: Chinese Type 53 7.62x54R carbine copy of Russian M1944. 



Above: Chinese Type 56 (export M22) 7.62x39 assault rifle copy of Russian AK-47. 


Above: Chinese Type 56 (export M21) 7.62x39 carbine copy of Russian SKS-45. 



We did it three times and I fine-tuned the beast. I got the headspacing correct (an aircraft gun barrel gets 8 to 12 clicks instead of the 2 to 5 clicks of the ground gun barrel), but the timing gave me fits (that is, when the gun would fire). If the timing is too fast, the gun blows-up; if the timing is too slow, the gun jams. Our gun kept jamming -- until one day. 

We took the MSSC down river towards the Gulf of Thailand to show the new Det. BRAVO officer-in-charge the local spots of interest. We got down to Square Bay and turned around to head home. I was lounging on the M2/M3 hybrid, with one arm draped over the top cover, when I saw a blast of mud and a rocket take off towards us. The gun happened to be dead-on the launch point and I hit the butterflies between the spade grips. That .50 let our a roar and the first burst gobbled-up 1/3 of the 426-rounds in the ammo box! I splattered the launch site. 

The blast from the .50 woke up the two OICs in front and our boss asked: "What was THAT about?" I said, "Somebody just shot a rocket at us and I splattered them." Our OIC looked at me like I'd lost my mind (he hadn't seen the rocket that had overshot and landed in the river without detonating): "Oh, alright. OK." and went back to conning the boat. 



The lack of spare parts (that is, spare barrels) finally retired my M2/M3 hybrid .50 into our ConEx box with other items. However, the one time that the gun was needed to run, it ran like a Singer sewing machine. 

Bob


Doc,  Here is another Sea Story;

One of the guys I remember from ST-1 across the courtyard at SOLID ANCHOR was SMC Tommie L. Hatchett. Tommie was a was a tall, very well muscled black guy that looked as if the could give the Incredible Hulk some pointers. I was friends with GMG3 Frank Sparks and he clued me in that GOLF platoon had captured a really neat gun from the VC. Being a curious sort, I decided to pay GOLF platoon a visit and check things out for myself. 

I walked up the steps and met Tommie just inside the door to the hooch. 

"Good morning, Chief. Frank Sparks told me you've captured a really strange weapon. Could you show me where it is?" 

"Morning, Gunner. It's over there." (Tommie pointed to a light machine gun resting on its extended bipod. 

"Wow, that's a really neat Czech ZB26/30 light machine gun. I wonder where the VC got that gun?" 

Most of the other GOLF platoon SEALs overheard the conversation and drifted over to the bench where I was looking over the Czech ZB. 



Above: A British Mk 2 Bren gun, caliber .303 British (7.7x57R). The Bren gets its name from Brno (Br), its original manufacturer, and Enfield (en), where it was built in the UK. The very curved magazine was required by the rimmed .303 caliber cartridge; the 7.92x57 cartridge is rimless and allowed for a straighter magazine body. The long bar behind the carrying handle is the barrel change lever. 

"Yup. The Czech ZB was the father of the famous British Bren light machine gun of World War 2 fame. When the Germans took over Czechoslovakia, they got the arms factory at Brno. They kept the ZB in production as the ZB26(t) -- the (t) indicated the country of origin as Czechoslovakia -- and these guns saw a lot of service with the German military during the war on both Eastern and Western Fronts. The Czech ZB was made in the same caliber (7.92x57mm) as the Germans were using, so there wasn't a problem with a different caliber." 


Above: A Czech ZB30 Light Machine Gun, caliber 7.92x57. The different shape of the bipod feet identify the gun as a ZB30; a ZB26 is shown in the lower photo. Except for minor cosmetic differences, the guns are identical. 

Below: The ZB26 and the ZB30 are indistinguishable from a distance; This is a ZB26. The initials ZB indicate the arms factory at Brno (Zbrojovka Brno). Both ZB26 and ZB30 guns have a folding shoulder rest, shown partially extended in this photo. Both ZB26 and ZB30 have quick-change barrels. 



"I suspect this Czech ZB was captured from or surrendered by the Germans when the allies kicked them out of France. The French made extensive use of captured German small arms after WW2 and the gun probably was sent to French Indochina to fight the Viet Minh, the predecessors of the VC. Somewhere along the line, the gun was captured by the Viet Minh and passed-on to the VC." 

"Did you capture ammo with it? Can I see some rounds?" 

By now, the rest of the platoon had gotten curious and drifted around the bench. Tommie handed me some loose ammunition that had been captured with the gun. He mentioned that the SEALs had tried to fire the gun after they'd brought it back to base, but all the rounds they'd tried had been duds. 

"I'm not surprised that you had a lot of bad rounds. From the head stamps on the cases, this stuff was made in Germany about 1938 and 1939. Who knows under what kinds of storage conditions this ammo has seen over all these years. Ammo wasn't waterproofed until quite recently, so it figures that you'll get a lot of duds." 

Tommie volunteered that when his guys captured the gun and its loaded magazines, it was commanding the trail they used to get to the arms cache. The position was unmanned. Had there been a gunner with good ammo, his whole group of SEALs would have been in deep, deep trouble. The position was well camouflaged and the point man didn't see the gun until he was almost on top of it. 

By now, our discussion had drawn-in the rest of the platoon, so I asked, "How about school call on the ZB26/30?" I got a lot of nods from the audience and proceeded to give Tommie and his guys a quick run through on the Czech gun. The gun's finish was very worn, but its overall condition was good. As I took the gun down, I could see that the Viet Minh and VC had tried to keep the gun cleaned and lubricated over the years. The barrel was lightly pitted from firing the corrosive-primed German ammunition, but the whole gun was serviceable and solid. if we'd had good ammo, that gun could have really rattled! 

Tommie and the other SEALs thanked me for the impromptu class. At the end of tour, the ZB returned as a war trophy to the SEAL Team ONE compound at Coronado, CA. The last I heard, it was still in their museum.


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----- Original Message -----
From: Larry Bissonnette
To: Doc Riojas
Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 10:55 PM
Subject: Je ne lis pas ou ne parle pas français

Doc,
We, River Division 593, were in various places including Ben Luc on the Vam Do Dong River on Operation Giant Slingshot, 12-68 to 3-69 then the Rung Sat from April-June 69 then the Upper Saigon River out of Phu Cuong July-September 1969 then the Rung Sat October 1969, then back to the Upper Saigon River November 69 to April 70. 

We were the River Division that was the subject of the Combat Zone TV (Discovery and Military Channels) Show about the PBR Rescue of the Army Personnel on the Upper Saigon River on August 2, 1969. Lowell Dickie gave you a DVD showing the events surrounding that action. Lowell Dickie was a very good friend of mine from many Reunions. He was with River Division 533 and we still have lots of good friends from that Division including Jerry Sapp, Ken Delfino, Steve Watson, Al Ocanas, etc, and lots of others.

  Larry

 

 

 

Lots of River Rats Photos:  http://www.tf116.org/vgallery1.html

 

 

       
                              Bob with ST-1 Officer


Bill Breamer, Bill Mount, Jim Thomas, Blas Mojica, Bill Moreo, Mike Bradley

 

 

                                             
             click on image to enlarge    

                             

 

                 

 

                             

 

              

 

 

                                          

 

                       

           
                   click on banner to go to page

         
Lt. to Rt: Tracker Dan Gerhardt, Mel, Chip Maury, Judy, and John Rapp  

                          
Chip Maury and John Rapp  
From John Rapp This was taken in 2007 at Mystic Seaport,CT. Photo’s from my visit with Tracker Dan Gerhardt and Mel, and Chip Maury and Judy, and myself in 2006 / 2007… We were all in Mystic Seaport!  

Ron, Doc, Mark, J.J., Rio, Bill, and all…

 

 

John Rapp

 

 

                               
                                               Walt "Red" Fanton , PBRs in MyTHo 1967

 


           ALBERT MOORE Photos

Email Albert Moore:  mrfa [at}bellsouth.net

----- Original Message -----
From: Doc Riojas
To: Albert Moore
Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2010 
Subject: a  link below  your pictures. Thank you AL. 

I'll get something about me together for you. These are my two LINKs.
My personal site is
www.ussbenewah.com
My association web site is
www.mrfa.org             

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                                                            Jim Marsh 

“Fire in the hole!” A photo by SEAL Steve Ellison shows an M72 LAW being fired from the helo deck of the HSSC. The M40A1 106mm recoilless rifle is directly behind the shooter. Note that everyone except one guy has covered his ears to protect them from the noise of the rocket blast. It would appear that some folks need to learn the hard way. He would certainly want to cover them when the 106mm was fired; its blast was much, much louder. (Photo: Steve Ellison). 

Photo of Ltjg Jim Marsh OIC MST 2 Det Delta Nha Be Rung Sat Special Zone June 1970 Weapons test with ST2 OIC Lt Tom Hawkins (far right back to camera fingers in ears) 1st week in country 

Photo Source location   Warboat s.org    m72 66mmLight Anti-tank Weapon

 

 

 

 

Subject: MIke Rush
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 98 00:16:09 +0000
From: Michael McQuillis   <sealinc [at]  earthlink  DOT  net>
To: el.ticitl Doc Riojas@worldnet.att.net 


Doc; 

I'm sitting here with Mike Rush, he mentioned that he had contacted you and you were going to help him out. I have known Mike for a while and have given him information about the team and LDnn's along with pictures. He is straight up and has done a fine job in documenting the teams history. 

He is very interested in any East coast Seals and LDNNhistory and photos available. He mentioned that he had contacted R.D. Russell but has had no response. I do not really know Russell so if you can open a door for him I would appreciate your help. He is interested in trading information. 

Harry Constance mentioned that he would talk to you also about Mike Rush's validity. Any info you give him will not be abused. If you have any regarding this matter, beam me up. I am sorry about John passing away and did not get the message until yesterday.  

You did a fine job on the web page you built.  Friends like you come far and few between. I hope all is well with you and your family. 

Michael McQuillis

 

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

 

 

    

 

  

 

    

 

    

 

    

 

      

 

   

 

 

 

From: doc rio To: Richard Barcus Some of the men that I remember. 
Chris Haney, USNavy SeaBee, 'Nam Seastory about SERE 
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 
Teammates, I received the following email through the folks at the POW Network (they get lots of weird stuff and pass it along to me whenever possible ) 
Here it is, exactly as transmitted I hope maybe someone in the VTC can help this guy. I'll ask Doc Riojas to post this on his web site www.sealtwo.org 
Steve Robinson, Virtual Team Compound Administrator 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hello all, I went thru SERE with 2 SEALs before we went to Vietnam in 67 . 

The SERE was at ; maybe China Lake ?? Somewhere in California . I was a SeaBee but got paired up with 2 SEALs . We broke into a State Prison Honor Farm together the 1st night of training. I have no idea what their names were . 

I have long since forgotten. But was wondering if there is a message board for SEALs anywhere I could post the message about that night....find out if they lived thru Vietnam or wherever they went. And just in general have a laugh about that night. If you know of a website like that I would appreciate any info you might have?? 

Thanks 

Chris Haney chrishaney [at] mindspring.com 

----- Original Message ----- From: Erasmo Riojas To: chrishaney [at] mindspring.com Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 Subject: your sea story about SERE 

your sea story about SERE will be posted on my web site and hopefully somebody remembers these guys. I visited with the SeaBees up in ChuLi on a trip to bum furniture for SpecWarGru Saigon. The CPO's had state side commodes and a stateside bar. You men had it a lot better than us SEALs. 

Find me your origional message that went to the SEAL blog if you kept it. I would like to see it. 

Rio 

From: chrishaney [at] mindspring.com To: Doc Riojas , docrio45 [at] gmail.com Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2009 Subject: your sea story about SERE 

Doc, 

Let me look for it....I think I sent it from a link on one of the web pages I was reading about "Make Believe Seals & Special Forces Guys" ...or the POW web site. Yeah...we SeaBees didn't have it half bad...if we were anywhere we could beg borrow or steal....especially steal from the Air Force......we had pretty nice stuff. I was at 14 Gia Long in DaNang for my 2nd part & didn't even carry a weapon. My cousin came to visit from Chu Lai & thought he was stateside. I used to tell people it was so safe there ....in downtown DaNang .....because we were surrounded by Viet Cong & NVA ....they didn't want to blow up or hurt any of their own guys !! 

Thanks, Chris 



From: chrishaney [at] mindspring.com To: Doc Riojas , docrio45 [at] gmail.com Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 Subject: your sea story about SERE Doc, Thanks for the reply 

You have built a great web page. But there must be a mistake. These guys are MUCH older than I am. ha.....Just kidding. It's amazing how fast life goes by once you get past about 50 . 

I had always wondered what happened to those 2 Seal's I went thru SERE/POW training with at China Lake. When they let us lose on the range they told us about the state prison I think either medium security or honor farm. that was just off range. When they paired me up with these 2 guys they told me 1st thing that was where we were going. 

I reminded them they said they would bust us if we got caught anywhere near the place & if I remember right they said. "this is what we'll be doing for a living, might as well get started now" . We found the place right off. I stayed at the wire. The guard tower & spot light were about 30 yards away . They broke into the galley and stuffed their bloused trousers with food. I kept watch & signaled them when it was clear to come out. They did, we were never caught. 

We evaded the people looking for us till the last day. Turned ourselves in & went thru the POW part. I know as a SEAL that was nothing compared to what those guys probably did afterwards. But as a SeaBee it definitely made me think about how boring my time would be. Ha. 

I went to Adak after that then to NSA DaNang till discharged in 69 . If you ever hear a story like this I'd love to hear what happened to those 2 guys , if they made it . I know one of the other SEALs that was with them had his foot burned when a "Guard", those guys with the Big Red Star on their hats, came into our camp & kicked over the big pot of hot water/food we were cooking. I thought the SEAL was going to kill the Guard as he had to go for medical & got separated from the other 2 Seals & was going to have to go thru the whole thing all over again. 

I Truly miss those days. Most exciting things I had ever done up to that part of life. Thanks for listening & God Bless You guys for everything you did. 

If you ever run across this story please let me know. I'm sure it wasn't anything compared to these guys lives afterward. 

Take Care, Chris Haney CE2 US Navy SeaBees.


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    SEARCH  Engine ONLY for SEALTWO.ORG

 

 

 

 

LINKS

        Smallest Photo Ablum of  Ole SEALs

                    WAR BOATS.org 

http://www.specwarnet.com/americas/sbu.htm  what happened to this LINK?    Help, somebody  

Other VN War Boats HERE  !  

https://www.warboats.org/

       vietnam.htm#stoner

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Doc Rio's Korean Police Action Adventure:  FMF Corpsman

 

Hello Folks, 

At long last I’ve published the third book in my Indomitable Patriot series, The Indomitable Patriot: the Submariners. 

The book takes us back to 1943 and the OSS. The USS Great White (SS-299) has just put an OSS team ashore in the Philippines and has gone hunting for Japanese tonnage to sink. She almost gets more than she bargained for when she tangles with a Japanese battleship with five escorts. Will she survive her assault and live to fight again? 
Lieutenant Commander Marcus Spencer, captain of the Great White experiences a number of twists and turns in his career as well, mainly involving the OSS and their covert activities in the Northern Mariana Islands. I’ve also introduced naval aviation into this book to present many thrilling scenes taking place above, as well as below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. 

As with my previous Patriot books, this book is historically accurate fiction. The book is geared toward submarine warfare and along those lines I read and reviewed dozens of actual patrol reports of USS Wahoo, Tang, and a number of WWII submarines. I lucked out in one additional way however.    My technical editor was a retired Navy Command Master Chief who spent his entire naval career aboard diesel and nuclear submarines. His tireless efforts have enabled me to write a book about submarine warfare a reader with no knowledge of the boats will understand and enjoy, and a submarine sailor (also called a “Bubblehead”) will enjoy the realism, jargon and accuracy of the story. 

If interested in looking further, just click this link and as-if by magic you will be transported to Amazon and the books listing. It’s available in both print and Kindle formats. 
http://www.amazon.com/The-Indomitable-Patriot-Submariners-Volume/dp/1530641098?ie=UTF8&keywords=carl%20mclelland&qid=1459365936&ref_=sr_1_4&s=books&sr=1-4 
I hope, regardless of your decision to check out the book, everybody is healthy and prosperous.

 All Best,   Carl McLelland, Vietnam Veteran

 

 

Morning Folks,
Doc Riojas, if you want to publish it on your website, here’s a humorous trailer for you of my next book. IF not, enjoy the read.... Later, Carl 

Howdy men, I hope everybody is impatiently awaiting the arrival of the third installment in The Indomitable Patriot series. The book takes us back to 1943 and the submarine USS Great White (SS-299), commanded by LCDR Marcus Spencer. You will recall the Great White and Captain Spencer from the first book, FERTIG, along with Evelyn “Pinky” Pinkert and LCDR (detailed OSS) David Meyers from both FERTIG and book two, DEAN. The Great White is at Mare Island for overhaul and installation of some OSS communications gear. After attending meetings at OSS headquarters, Spencer, Meyers and Pinky drive the the OSS training academy, the former Congressional County Club. All right, here’s a short, humorous trailer from book three.... 

The meeting continued for a couple more hours before breaking. Meyers, Captain Spencer and Pinky drove to the Country Club to spend the night with Pinky in the guesthouse. The following morning they would fly to Fort Monmouth in Pinky’s Staggerwing Beechcraft. 

~~~ ~~~

“It never fails to amaze me, whenever I come down here,” Meyers said as they parked in front of the administration building. “I’ll never forget the first two weeks of the academy when Pinky shared a bunk in a dormitory with twenty-three other men.” 

“That’s all right, Mister Meyers,” Pinky said, ice in her voice. “We can save that story for another time!” 

“Now my interest is peaked,” Spencer replied. 

“Later, sir,” Pinky replied as she deeply blushed. “Only after a martini will I be able to tell that story.” 

“My humble command,” Pinky said when Meyers and Spencer stopped and stared at the barbed-wire encased Quonset huts. “Come inside administration for a moment and I will introduce you to Colonel Godfrey, our administrator. Not even the Colonel has clearance to enter the barbed wire. After meeting the Colonel, David and I will give you a tour of the facility.” 

As they drove around the complex, David and Pinky explained the training program for OSS Special Agents. They were parked at one of the five-hundred yard ranges when Spencer asked, “You went through all this firearms training, Pinky?” 

“Captain Spencer,” Meyers answered, “Pinky is a distinguished master with a rifle. She can outshoot me.” 

Spencer glanced at Pinky. “My COB, or Chief Of the Boat on the Great White is a thin, wiry fellow. Almost soft-spoken, but get under his skin or fail to obey a command, he instantly becomes a grizzly bear. I suspect, ma’am, the two of you are not that different.” 

Pinky started up and then abruptly stopped their Jeep. “You see that man out there, Captain, the one leading that squad. He will be going to Tinian with you. His name is Carlos Hathcock, Senior. He can outshoot all of our firearms instructors. He can hit bull’s eyes at a thousand yards with an iron-sighted rifle.” 

Spencer slowly shook his head as Pinky started up again. “Such young men we produce, to go in harm’s way,” he muttered under his breath. 

~~~ ~~~
Captain Spencer, David and I ate in the cadet’s mess. The food service was very good for cafeteria-style service. Afterward, we adjourned to the recreation room where I fixed martinis for the three of us. David brought up the subject of the academy again… to my great embarrassment. 

“You delight in forcing me to tell that story, don’t you, Mister Meyers,” Pinky said as she broke out in laughter. 

“Marcus (Spencer had told them to dispense with the Captain Spencer routine), my family owns this place, the former Congressional Country Club. I lived in the guesthouse when they leased it to the OSS for the duration of the war, under the condition I continue residing in the guesthouse. My uncles didn’t want me moving back to Chicago where I would be too close to them. The OSS hired me, and I applied for special agent training. David and I were in the first academy class.” 

“For the first two weeks of physical, as well as stress training, everybody lived in open barracks. If you survived that period, you moved into individual rooms for the remainder of the training. Their theory, the enemy would neither discriminate nor go easy on a female, so they lumped everybody together.” 

“Sunday afternoon, the day before the training officially began; I’m arranging my uniforms and gear in my locker… in an open bay with twenty-three other guys.” 

Marcus began to chuckle and then laugh aloud. “Excuse me, Pinky, I’m picturing you bunking in the crew quarters on a sub and being with eighty men who have not bathed in a week or two. It gets pretty foul at times on a boat!” 

“We are all tending to our gear while our drill instructor marches up and down the aisle, screaming ‘The enemy intends to kill you, pretty women as quickly as big, tough men,’ and all that.” 

“And then Gunny stops at my bunk. I come to attention. The rim of his Smokey Bear hat a fraction of an inch from my forehead. ‘Pinkert, you get one privilege,’ he screams… spittle landing all over my face. ‘There is one stall in the head with a curtain. That stall is yours alone. In exchange for that privilege, you shall not use the men’s urinal. Do you understand that?’” 

“Sir, yes sir,” I screamed in Gunny’s face, biting my tongue to keep from laughing. Then Gunny screams, “Men, you will report immediately if you catch Pinkert using your urinal. Do you understand that?” 

“A chorus of ‘Sir, yes sir,’ rang throughout the barracks. By now I’m about to explode with laughter.” 

“It got worse when Gunny yelled at us about one shower for everybody,” David interrupted. “I’ll save Pinky further embarrassment and leave that to your imagination.” 

“Pinky, water is in such short supply on a sub that bathing usually amounts to a gallon of water, once a week if you’re lucky,” Marcus replied. “There is an officer’s head on board, but it’s usually crammed full of supplies for most of a patrol. Everybody uses one head in the after torpedo room. That, too, becomes pretty foul after weeks at sea.” 


Carl McLelland

 


THE INDOMITABLE PATRIOT  Fertig, The Guerrilla General

One of our guys, although he had the misfortune of going Army instead of Navy, has become a writer in
his old age. His first few books were about the paranormal... he likes to chase ghosts in his spare time. But his latest
endeavor; Wow! He has started a new series of books he calls Behind the Lines. His first book, recently completed and
published is titled “THE INDOMITABLE PATRIOT: Fertig, the Guerrilla General.” It’s a historically correct novel about Wendell Fertig in the Philippines in World War II.  Here’s what the book looks like. 
Cover Final :
May, 1942. General Wainwright has just surrendered the Philippines. Wendell Fertig, a Corps of Engineers Lieutenant Colonel, refuses to comply and flees into the mountains of Mindanao. Fertig is soon
joined by dozens of former Philippino Army scouts who encourage him to form a guerrilla Army. Over the next few months Fertig is joined by several other displaced American soldiers, one of whom builds a small, makeshift transmitter and establishes contact with the Navy. 
General MacArthur denounces Fertig, going on record claiming it’s impossible for a guerrilla movement in the Philippines to succeed. The O.S.S. decide to take a chance and covertly supplies Fertig by submarine. Once he receives the tools to wage war, his achievements become legendary. By the time MacArthur returns to the Philippines in 1944 he is met on the beach at Leyte by a force of over twenty thousand of Fertig’s guerrilla Army. 

This fictional accounting is based upon the actual military records and reports of one man’s impossible achievements against overwhelming odds; against an enemy who outnumbered him a hundred to one. Wendell Fertig, a civil engineer and untrained amateur in the ways of war, defied the predictions of the experts and brought the Japanese Army to its knees. Enjoy this first installment in the new Behind The Lines series of combat thrillers based upon historical records.


The book is available from Amazon in either print or Kindle versions, or by special order from almost any book retailer.
(He’s not Tom Clancy yet. They don’t stock his books but they can order them). These links will take you to the Amazon listings. If you look at the Kindle listing there is a Look Inside feature that lets you read through the first chapter. 
Print: 
http://www.amazon.com/Indomitable-Patriot-Fertig-Guerrilla-General/dp/
1512025623/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431972445&sr=8-1&keywords=the+indomitable+patriot 


Kindle: 
http://www.amazon.com/Indomitable-
Patriot-Fertig-Guerrilla-General-ebook/dp/B00XUSX4RU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1432050603&sr=
1-1&keywords=the+indomitable+patriot
 

About the Author     Carl’s professional career began as an Army and then FAA air traffic controller. He advanced from a small radar van in the Central Highlands of Vietnam to the TRACON in one of our nation’s busiest airports. He also became a commercial pilot and flight instructor, retiring after thirty-nine years of flying. By 1986 he was experiencing severe burnout. He put himself through the police academy, resigned from the FAA and became a deputy Sheriff in Reno, Nevada. He retired after a distinguished career on the street. Not only the cop on the beat, Carl became a renowned traffic accident reconstructionist on his departments Major Accident Investigation Team, as well as a highly acclaimed crime scene investigator. Throughout his life Carl has been a student of the paranormal and often experienced the effects of the supernatural in his personal life. In 2012 he became involved in the saga of the haunted Allen House in Monticello, Arkansas and its resident spirit, Ladell Allen Bonner. The result of dozens upon dozens of paranormal interactions with Ladell led Carl to write his first book about Ladell’s life and death. Writing that first book sparked a latent avocation in his life: writing. Carl has always been a connoisseur of military history, and that interest began a new direction for his writing. This latest book is the story of Wendell Fertig, and the beginning of a thrilling new series, 'Behind The Lines.' While the stories are fictionalized, they are all based upon factual military history. Join in with Carl and enjoy his books as you gain an interesting new insight in what war is all about.

The following is typical of the reviews I’m receiving on the book: 


Just finished your book and you get 4.0 marks from this old Navy Seal. Really enjoyed and it adds to my hobby of WWII.
Spent 22 years of my 34 in and out of the PI. Have traveled every island and was trained a marksman by RJ when we were
stationed at Team 2 during Vietnam. Still a very good friend I keep in contact with. Going to recommend it to my friends,
at least the ones that can read.

 THE INDOMITABLE PATRIOT  Fertig, The Guerrilla General

Doc Riojas Comment:  Once i started reading this book, i have find myself hard to putting it down! because of my very old age (84 yr old eyes and at the end of being able to correct my vision) I find that the way  the paragraphs are other important text are spaced to be extremly easy to read.

Having retired from the Navy and traveled to that part of the orient reminds me of my days as a guerrilla combatant as part of the Navy SPecial Warfare serving as a Navy SEAL in the Jungles of Vietnam.

The author is equally as good a military writter as Tom Clancy.  This story may possibly be material for a great movie similar to the the movie produced about the POW rescue in WWII by Filipino Guerilla fighters and the U.S. Army Rangers.  "The Great Raid"

Do not wait to buy it tomorrow, order it today !  It was recommended to me by CDR R.D. Thomas (recommended for the Medal of Honor by the US Army, but our politically correct US Navy downgraded it to a Navy Cross. SHame on them !

The following is typical of the reviews I’m receiving on the book: 


Just finished your book and you get 4.0 marks from this old Navy Seal. Really enjoyed and it adds to my hobby of WWII.
Spent 22 years of my 34 in and out of the PI. Have traveled every island and was trained a marksman by RJ when we were
stationed at Team 2 during Vietnam. Still a very good friend I keep in contact with. Going to recommend it to my friends,
at least the ones that can read.

 THE INDOMITABLE PATRIOT  Fertig, The Guerrilla General

Doc Riojas Comment:  Once i started reading this book, i have find myself hard to putting it down! because of my very old age (84 yr old eyes and at the end of being able to correct my vision) I find that the way  the paragraphs are other important text are spaced to be extremly easy to read.

Having retired from the Navy and traveled to that part of the orient reminds me of my days as a guerrilla combatant as part of the Navy SPecial Warfare serving as a Navy SEAL in the Jungles of Vietnam.

The author is equally as good a military writter as Tom Clancy.  This story may possibly be material for a great movie similar to the the movie produced about the POW rescue in WWII by Filipino Guerilla fighters and the U.S. Army Rangers.  "The Great Raid"

Do not wait to buy it tomorrow, order it today !  It was recommended to me by CDR R.D. Thomas (recommended for the Medal of Honor by the US Army, but our politically correct US Navy downgraded it to a Navy Cross. SHame on them !

Carl McClelland, USMC Pilot: the author