Received his commission as a Naval officer upon graduation from the Naval Academy in 1963. He was 30 years old when he arrived in Vietnam as the commanding officer of a patrol boat in IV Corps, after two other tours at sea and time at the Naval Postgraduate School. He describes the Navy’s patrol gunboat and its intricacies, as well as their daily routine. He describes the two major firefights in which his gunboat was ambushed and engaged by the enemy using B-40 rockets, including one in June 1970, and one in August 1970 during which his actions earned him the Navy Cross medal.Received his commission as a Naval officer upon graduation from the Naval Academy in 1963. He was 30 years old when he arrived in Vietnam as the commanding officer of a patrol boat in IV Corps, after two other tours at sea and time at the Naval Postgraduate School. He describes the Navy’s patrol gunboat and its intricacies, as well as their daily routine. He describes the two major firefights in which his gunboat was ambushed and engaged by the enemy using B-40 rockets, including one in June 1970, and one in August 1970 during which his actions earned him the Navy Cross medal.

Key Words:
Patrol Gun Boat; coastal interdiction; Sea Float; solid anchor; tugboats; maintenance; surveillance; Cam Rahn Bay; CTF 115; B-40 rocket; USS Marathon (PG-89); USS Ready (PG-87); anti-war demonstrations; USS Pueblo (AGER-2).

Key Names:
Walter Cronkite; Carl Sandberg; ADM Thomas H. Moorer, ENCS(SS) John H. “Trigger” Tregoning, ADM Elmo "Bud" Zumwalt Jr., Colin Powell.