Raised in the foster care system in Alabama, Jerry Gandy found a home in the U.S. Navy. He enlisted at age 17, and was a 29-year-old radioman first class (E-6) when he arrived in Vietnam in 1969. He describes typical patrol boat operations – mostly night missions, and his worst day, July 17, 1970, being wounded bad enough by enemy rocket propelled grenade shrapnel to be evacuated all the way to Naval Hospital Jacksonville in Florida. He also describes another firefight in which his patrol was ambushed and he had to evacuate both of the patrol’s crews in a boat with only one remaining engine. Gandy goes into great detail about his three-year recovery, but of his Vietnam experience he says, “I considered it a high point of my life. He says his best day in Vietnam was the day he was told he made Chief Petty Officer. I was proud of what I did. And I’m still proud of what I did. I feel like I accomplished something.”
Key Words: Foster Care; Birmingham, Alabama; Naval Inshore Operations Training Center (NIOTC), Mare Island, CA; Patrol Boat, River (PBR); search, evasion, resistance, and escape (SERE); can cuoc; Binh Thuy; Operation GAME WARDEN; Ha Tien, Gulf of Thailand; Vinh Te Canal; Operation TRAN HUNG DAO; Phuc Xuyen, the Plain of Reeds; rocket propelled grenade (RPG); 3rd Medical Evac Army Hospital, Can Tho; malaria; medevac; Rach Giang Thanh, the Giang Thanh River; Seawolves.
Key Names: LTjg D. M. Bomarito, LT Greenberg.Raised in the foster care system in Alabama, Jerry Gandy found a home in the U.S. Navy. He enlisted at age 17, and was a 29-year-old Raidoman First Class (E-6) when he arrived in Vietnam in 1969. He describes the Navy's river patrol boats and typical patrol boat operations – mostly night missions, and his worst day, July 17, 1970, being wounded bad enough by enemy rocket propelled grenade shrapnel to be evacuated all the way to a Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. He also describes another firefight in which his patrol was ambushed and he had to evacuate both of the patrol’s crews in a boat with only one remaining engine. Gandy goes into great deatil about he three year recovery, but of his Vietnam experience he says, “I considered it a high point of my life. I was proud of what I did. And I’m still proud of what I did. I feel like I accomplished something.”
Key Words: Foster Care; Birmingham, Alabama; Naval Inshore Operations Training Center (NIOTC), Mare Island, CA; Patrol Boat, River (PBR); search, evasion, resistance, and escape (SERE); can cuoc; Binh Thuy; Operation GAME WARDEN; Ha Tien, Gulf of Thailand; Vinh Te Canal; Operation TRAN HUNG DAO; Phuc Xuyen, the Plain of Reeds; rocket propelled grenade (RPG); 3rd Medical Evac Army Hospital, Can Tho; malaria; medevac; Rach Giang Thanh, the Giang Thanh River; Seawolves.
Key Names: LTjg D. M. Bomarito, LT Greenberg.