Why River Patrol Was One Of The Toughest Jobs Of The Vietnam War | Battlezone | War Stories
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- Опубліковано 21 жов 2024
- During the Vietnam War, US forces were fighting in terrain very different to what they're used to at home. One of these key differences in the lack of purpose built roads across the country. The Vietnamese instead use the rivers and waterways that run through their country. As these routes were so vital to the Viet Cong, US forces had to patrol them extremely carefully.
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No wonder this 'documentary' sucked. It's nothing more than USN propaganda.
My digital image of the cover 👍👍👍 David Staudohar USMC USN SS USCG ret ‼️ American Patriot and Combat Veteran Marine 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
great vid thanks has any one seen any vids posted on the the Navy advisors in the junk force? Maybe the most forgotten aspect of the navy
@@richardgraham7055 I love love love😍
មកបិ see no@@richardgraham7055
I was a part of Small Craft Company 1st PLT in Iraq 04&05’. These guys laid the foundation for us and I’m thankful . (Also the PBR guys and the swift boat foundation sent us so many packages so we didn’t have to buy hygiene gear, candy bars etc. it was super cool of them and we really appreciated it)
You've got to ask was that war sll in vain ,rip to all this brave men
those Vietnam vets will always make sure that you're straight. Stand up guys who got the worse of it.
In Ramadi?
I went to college with a man named Sam Watkins who was a great photographer and a veteran of river patrols. Spent hours on Friday nights watching his slides and listening to his stories. Brave doesn’t cover it. I deeply hope Sam is alive and well!
you lucky man,have unique experience, i wish i would be you.
If you know about Ken Burns` Civil War series (I have the 5 disk DVD collection) you will hear the diary entries of Pvt Elijah Hunt Rhoads U.S.A. and Pvt Sam Watkins C.S.A. Both are mere kids with not much School, yet they write more beautifully and skillfully than a college grad. of today. Their words and thoughts paint pictures in your mind as well and even better than famous authors of today. Their writings are comical at times, dreadful sometimes but always poignantly, bringing everything into clear focus. I am pretty sure you know about Burns` series on the C.W., but I highly recommend it to you if not. I have watched those DVD`s 100 times and well keep watching them. A masterpiece in every way.
Thats "good" stuff. Amazing and heart breaking @gib59er56
My younger brother was assigned to a patrol boat in Nam. He once told me he had never felt more alive than when he was out on patrol, he also told me he would never do it again in a million years. He has lived out the rest of his life as a farmer, father and husband. The most excitement he needed after Nam was bowling night and the occasional game of horseshoes. He is in his words, one of the lucky ones.
🫵👍
My Hero Uncle saved some river boats when the VC started to mortar the boats. He ran aboard one boat and towed many others out into the bay. Out of the mortar range. He returned later and a fellow soldier noticed blood on his leg. He got a shrapnel wound and did not even know it. He was US Navy for 30 years. Got a Purple Heart Medal for that wound and some other medals. He was and is one of my special heroes !
Respect!! ❤
As a working man myself i have noticed (usually too late) that i have cuts and bruises (Some cuts that drew blood) and did not even notice until much later.
I am not trying to even compare what i go through in a factory with soldiers that go through combat but just trying to say (maybe it's a male thing) that i can understand being scraped or wounded without noticing or even just dismissing it as a "i got cut...whatever"
For what it's worth. Respect to your HERO uncle as i also had an uncle who fought in Vietnam......funnily enough he served the very year that i was born. 1970.
To your uncle and all the military veterans from USA and Allies having participated in Korean War and Vietnam War, thank you for your service for trying to contain the spread of the deadly and toxic Communism which remains an existential threat to individual freedom, human dignity, and basic decency worldwide even to these days. Commies are a stain on humanity!
What do you dogs come to our country for?
@@thethaovatoquoc312 You couldn't be more brainwashed. So pathetic.
RIP RM3 Samuel M Boyce USN
A-92-2 River Assault Squadron 9 TF 117
Feb. 21 , 1947 KIA Feb. 6 , 1968
Vihn Long RVN
Gone , but never forgotten 🇺🇸
Thank you to all who served . This was a brutal war .
THE US NAVY WAS IN NAM IN 1954 , IN 1955 OTHER MILITARY FORCES ENTERED, THEN THE WAR GREW ,,, THANK FRANCE FOR NAM
THANK YOU ,, I AM PROUD THAT I WAS NOT A DRAFT CARD BURNER
You're thanking them for poisoning people and disfiguring kids.
This what my dad did in Vietnam, scarred him for life. Rip dad
I lived on an island in Miami Beach Florida and had friends who were drafted to Vietnam. They came back 'different ' and a few didn't come home at all. I met so many soldiers who were maimed and missing limbs. Horrible war that was.
Thank you for sharing this.
you lucky man,have a unique experience, i wish i would be you.
Unjust war
@@al.march.7457 y'all are so w/{e] ir(d. ]
@@Pleasurechest985?
Iraq and Afghanistan has left us with another generation of brave young men missing limbs.
My dad was a seabee in Vietnam he served from 68-71 and has a whole bunch of health issues because of it including agent orange and that was passed down to his kids.. he doesn’t tell us much of how it was over there so thank you for making these videos showing it!
Very important fighting construction workers. They built most of everything in ever theaters of war since WW2.
movie "apocalips today" showing much of how it was!
@@barryrammer7906 is it like auxillary?
@al.march.7457 No, we have full-time construction battalions. About 700 men per battalion. We work with every branch of the service. We build forward bases even for the army special forces. In WW2, SEABEES hit the beaches in Iwo Jima in the 2nd wave. Took a lot of killed and injured. 40% casualties, I believe. In the Second World War, we were islands hoping with Marines units. We were the first on the Normandy beaches and destroyed mine fields. This was before navy SEALS. We and full-time frog men, one of the inspirations to make that unit. Then, they built the causeway and bridges. In Alaska, they built the bases air strips. General Patton requested use of us to build his bridges and roads. But he made us wear army uniforms, lol. We are construction specialists of all the tades. We get combat training with the Marines. We carry weapons and use them. Then go back to work. We also have 2 amphibious battalions, 100 construction divers, and men each. To build underwater wires, fuel line docks even help ships if needed once in a while to fix battle damage. We were in every war since the second WW2. We can build anything and defend ourselves or even help Marines or army special forces if needed. We have been in the most theater's of war than anyone other units in the Navy. We even stole a train from the North Koreans on the Inchon landings to move supplies to advancing Marines. We have quit a good bit of history you never heard of. We always get mistaken for Marines or the Army, but we are proud branch of the Navy you have never heard of. Our motto is "can do" and "We built and fight." Hope this helps not bragging just proud to be one. We have much much more history than this brief summary.
@@barryrammer7906 wow I had no idea about all that especially being the first on the beaches in Normandy! Thank you for sharing and thank you for your service 🙏🏼❤️🇺🇸
Worked with a guy at John Deere's in Waterloo, IA in early 70s who had a horror story of being on one of these river boats. Will never forget him and what he told me. 🙏
What was his story ?
Most combat vets don't talk about their time in war. Always be skeptical of someone who volunteers to tell you their 'war stories'
Watching this reminds me, I was a sailor aboard an LST (905) that ran supplies to Saigon and other places along the river. I remember that we hosted an orphanage close to Vung Tao (sp), they could come on board the boat and were treated to candy and a meal and occasional gifts. Very friendly youngsters but I was only 19 at the time and I remember the second time they came to the boat that there was one young boy that it seemed that everyone one loved but the second time he was not with them.
We found out that the Viet Cong had tricked him into throwing a hand grenade into a quanset hut, it killed five or six GI's, and the military had him in their custody. It did not change our feelings about the boy.
How awful for that young boy. He was living in a war zone, so everything in his life was probably in such upheaval, but you’d think that would still deeply affect him and influence his perception of himself and of life.
Vung Tau was in the Australian Sector. They took over the area and separated from the US because they thought our (USA) strategy was stupid and dangerous. Obviously they were correct, regretfully. Whole area was covered with VC, who were from this area. Australians had a huge battle killing over 1K and losing just under 100. The Vietnamese now have allowed the Australians to put up a memorial to honor their fallen. To my understanding this is the only memorial VN has allowed to an enemy. None for US, French or S Korea.
There is a Buddhist run orphanage in this area, but several miles from the ocean so not sure it’s the one where this boy would have been from.
What I think few Americans understand is that there was never a front line. There were millions of VC who live all over S Vietnam.
its a shame.
LBJ and his wife took financial control of Bell helicopter and made large investments in Genral dynamics just before he sent troops to Vietnam
You are rhe one that was tricked
Yall shove that war down thier throat for money and raw materials like rubber and opium There was never a South Vietnam
*"..I was being ferried down the coast in a Navy PBR. A type of plastic patrol boat, a pretty common sight on the rivers.."* - Willard(Apocalypse Now)
Does Charlie boogie board?
Powerful film.
@@Jeremyramone *"..but sir it's Charlie's point.."*
*'..Charlie don't SURF.."*
@@susiejones3634 well a great story done by Joseph Conrad's heart of Darkness. My Great Grandparents were missionaries out in the Congo during the rule of King Leopold II and stuff I read in their diaries was like reading something from a horror novel. But Apocalypse Now is great adaptation. Including the scene with the French family dinner scene.
Even now, the United States continues with its wicked ambitions of world hegemony at the on-going cost of millions of lives - two million, since WW2. Great numbers killed and lives destroyed will be the legacy left by the American Empire.
I was born just as the Viet Nam war was winding down, and saw Apocalypse Now in elementary school, so let me just make the legendary observation (probably already done before many times on this video) about the Nung river and the Mekong delta:
"It's Charlie's point!" "Well, Charlie don't surf!"
Served with CTF-116 stationed at NSAD BinhThuy in '71-'72. Thanks for letting folks know a bit of "What it was like."
I learned more about the PBR (Patrol Boat-River) from Jeremy Clarkson during their Seamen special from The Grand Tour. Love the jet drive on those things.
Apocalypse Now. Please rent it. Its one of the 100 best films of all time. One of the top 10 vietnam films of all time. And the best PBR film of all time.
That was a good episode
My wifes step dad did three tours in Nam as Army Infantry, he was one of many that had to do and see things that most people cant even imagine. Nothing but respect. Love you Roger and thank you for your sacrifice and service. He onky speak of his experience to one person which is my niece that did two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan in the 1st Infantry. She joined on her 18th birthday and was in Bagdad for her 19th birthday. She is one of my true heros, she went on to become a drill instructor and made a career out of it. It's people like them that afford the rest of us to live the way we do. Never forget or take for granted what all of our veterans sacrificed for us! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
It is Vietnam not Nam. What are you a redneck? In relation to Vietnam was the US under attack? And it seems the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
@@bwana-ma-coo-bah425 ❤️❤️
They sacrificed for the government pockets you klown. These wars are not for us.
@@bwana-ma-coo-bah425row row row your boat
@@larryb982 was my comment too intellectual for you? probably, yes.
My co worker and mentor Willard Ferguson was on a river boat in Nam.. one of the nicest you to ever met from Tennessee
Thank you all for your service ❤❤
My Family Doctor was in Vietnam as a Field Surgeon. They tried a new idea to drop the surgeons into the LZ and start medical treatment on the way to the MASH in an attempt to increase the chances of survival for the soldiers. Unfortunately, over 50% of the doctors were killed in combat, and so the program was cancelled. He NEVER talked about it, but I saw his Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars & other medals at his funeral. He was a True Ef'fin Hero... and not a clown in a TV Sit-Com..!! Please produce a doc featuring the Nurses & Doctors.
They are 'Unsung Heroes & Under Valued' as well as the Chopper Pilots and Field Medics. They ALL deserve a Memorial in DC and a HUGE token of sincere gratitude.
My uncle served 4 tours on the Mekong, with Riveron Force 113. Silver Star/V and Bronze Star/V as a Boatswains Mate.
I served my year in a USAF Helicopter Sq; what we did was dangerous; but NOTHING as bad as the Brown River Navy...
First rule in the Nam.. Never get out of the boat...
and NEVER turn your back on a Vietnamese with a weapon! Vietnam Vet 1968-69.
They both make sense. I quess when the Vietnamese took over it was actually the Vietnamese cong taking over. And I questioned we trained them 😮💨
Apocalypse now!
Kurtz got off the boat...
@@Captain_Willard and he split from the whole f-ckin program.
Some who went there, never came back. Some who came back never left there
My friend Moses was a gunner on a river boat. It messed up his mind and he never wanted any new friends or be around people. He could hit a target with my pos six shooter at unbelievable distances. I asked how as I was just a kid and he replied with when you’re aim is life or death you get good quick or die quicker. He once introduced himself and his wife by saying this is my first ex wife! I now understand what he meant. Rip brother! I hope his son is ok.
My heart goes out to him
Breaks my heart in a good way to see heart warming moments in the midst of war
Kids fighting the fight of their lives in a horrible killer war. True American HEROS
Thank you for your service
Salute 🇺🇸
I already heard of the patrol boats in Viet nam in 1974,. I was drafted in the Israeli defence
forces together with an American the served 24 months as a petty officier 2 on the Mekong river.
Man wow holy cow, I had no idea that IDF was even there or in any way involved in the war back then! Thanks for sharing & thank you for your service, Shalom!!
I had an uncle he was a gunner on the back of a PT Boat ( I have a picture of him between what i think are 2 M60's ) he was a big Man over 6'2 and later a Navy seal he did go on to retire with the Navy he was Born and raised in Polk county, Florida.
R.I.P. uncle Tommy
Twin 50s most of the time.
I served on the Harnett county LST 821 while she was in viet nam an it took almost 10 years to stop the nightmares from that experience
God bless you Sir
So glad it worked all worked up according to plan
The ingenuity of a good ol' trusty tin can helping the feed on the.60 never ceases to make me smile.
Those Piggs look fantastic mounted to the vessel !
Not too bad on a UH1 either!😃
My brother in law was with the river patrol in Nam.god bless him may he R.I.P..Good man from Tennessee born and raised there.
Wow great Documentary.
Pops was with the Mobile Riverine Force on the Delta with the 9th Infantry..!! 67-68
Much Respect to all who Put their lives on the line and Fought For our Freedoms..!! It’s Truly Appreciated.
Navy PBR looked glamorous on Apacalypse Now
Did you notice Bill Graham, the famous Rock Promoter on both coasts, was the front man for USO bunnies in that film? What a riot!
Thank for your service
Had one school mate on a river patrol, 2 years older than me, was ambushed by the vc, came home ina coffin. Name was Tommy Eldridge. So sad, and I was in the lair force at the time, training to go to Southeast Asia, ended up in Viet Nam.
I wonder what the lives are like today for each person in these videos are like
I know a Vietnam vet who fought in Da Nang. He built a sailboat in CA, a 26 footer. Sailed it around the world, traded it for a 36 footer, named Sunshine, and sailed that one halfway round the world, stopping here in The Philippines where he lives a peaceful life today. Terrific guy with horrific stories of one of the more violent parts of the Vietnam war.
My Dad joined the Navy straight out of highschool he spent the last 2 1/2 years of war war 2 Vietnam war he did River runs
We salute you all brave souls. From Capetown South Africa..
Coworker of mine was on a gunboat in 'Nam. He said they spent a lot of time cruising up and down the river. When they weren't stopping and inspecting boats, they were simply waiting for VC to take pot shots at them from the jungle lining the river.
My best friend was on a pt boat patrolling the delta using a 50 cal. His stories still make me shudder!! He died young because of exposure to chemical elements..💔
I was on a PBR from 1969 to 1970 , one of our jobs was to set up ambushes on the Vinh Te Canal which was close to Cambodian border . It was a huge infiltration route for the NVA into Vietnam. Spent a few nights on the beach so we had to get out of the boat , scary !
Did you know my brother Pete Frazier battle of Snoopys nose? 20 mm cannoner bronze star purple heart
Did you know Pete Frazier Snoopys nose
@@RandyFrazier-oz2gf I’m sorry sir , I did not know him
Another school mate
Who was 2 years younger than me was a door gunner on a Huey, didn’t make it back home neither, Robert Shuptrine was his name.
I remember the war! My uncle was in it. I'll never forget how it was at home. I dont know how it was in Vietnam. I Hear many many story's.
Really enjoyed this video.. please put out more content
Gadfly here 🤫
Running up a inlet that is too shallow. That depends on the time of year
You need a local scout 😬
thank you !
to ALL the men & women who served . as salamu alaykum ❤
The first half of the documentary was what I was interested in, the second half was but a pipe dream for it didn't take long for Saigon to fall after the U.S. pulled out.
😢tue😊😊
Funny how it was repeated 50 years later.
The best movie ever made involving the brown water navy was Apocalypse Now. If youre reading this and havent seen that movie, rent it now! Its a Vietnam war interpretation of the novel Heart Of Darkness about an english river boat man traveling up a river in africa.
T T T T Tiger!!
I’m going to rewatch it again now you said 👍
I'm a Gulf War era veteran, salute to my Vietnam veteran brothers 🇺🇸🇺🇸
My Father served on a PBR in 1967, out of a base further north on the Mekong.
Heart breaking how we were suckered into a war we never should have gotten into. So many valiant warriors who lost their lives. So many came back never to be the same again. The corruption of our military industrial complex, our government and the South Vietnamese government was breathtaking. Many of us who served were gullible youths who believed the propaganda fed to us. We didn't even know to question it. So terribly tragic for all involved...
I'm still proud of our service, as we truly believed we served a good cause, and were willing to risk our lives to "liberate" S. Vietnam.
So well narrated
Thanks for the reply
My first Chief in the Navy was a "river rat" That dude was unflapable. I served with him in the 80's on a submarine.
My boat was T-cup SSBN 628. I also rode the Bluefish and Stoney-J
I understand that the Riverine force was reactivated in the early 2000's.
Yes it was the Marines had it, then turn it over back to the Navy Expeditionary Warfare Command.
Great film. I felt like I was there again.
My older brother served on a Navy PBR and received a Purple heart and Bronze Star. His name was Bill Wilson.
Its Rapidly Becoming A Long Time Ago. We're all in our 70's, 80's.
Did you know my brother Pete Frazier Snoopys nose
My dad was a River Rat. Spent his time on a swift boat.
No one cares
@@brickcitybeatdown lol I know
I care. Maybe I knew him. I was with the 9th Infantry Division RiverRats as an interrogator in charge of the POW boat.
@@RobertEckert-g4j My dad spent most of his time on a swift boat. 1970
Great video. I wish I could hear the too soft audio.....
Up the Nung River, 75 clicks past the Do Lung bridge
Did you know my brother Pete Frazier Snoopys nose
I had a cousin who did 2 tours in the Mekong Delta. Died in a car crash when he got back to the states.
The Grand Tour brought me here.
God Bless All our Troops 👍
River deep mountain high
Every valley exalted
Every mountain laid low!
you need to spend a week in the Ashau Valley or the Que Son Valley, and learn what it is to be a tough place
Did you spend time in either place, or have you just seen a couple movies?
There are 11,000 miles of navigable water in Vietnam. Some 8,000 Coast Guardsmen served in the brown water Navy. A few were KIA, 50 or 60 wounded. People told me for 50 years the CG never went to Vietnam. The Riverine services shut down the transfer of arms by sea and river by late 1968. We boarded and searched hundreds of sampans and fishing boats. The tracers you see in this film are only every third round.
U.S. Coast Guard '68 '69 and the "Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club".
My friend the Reverend Ron Teal did two tours in a PBR. Became a Reverend when he got back.
Can anyone tell me how the lights on the forward mast were used? I am making a RC model of the Pibber and want to make the lights operational. Thanks. Don
19:24
Combat wounded Vietnam 67/69 combat engr.
Those Detroit Diesel sound good,no mistaking those mkfkrs..
Wow! Were there other factories, aside the Telegraph Road location?
How many commercials can you cram into a documentary? Damn!
Thank you everyone of you and welcome home
I worked the raider boats in desert storm, Shield. 23ft Boston Whalers boats.
No man left behind for the enemy to find
God bless the Americans that fought and those that didn't make it home
Do you have the ball's to stand? I did 2002 USMC Echo company 03600 diesel mechanic and proud of it.
My uncle Rodney Moss did 3-tours doing this!
The war had profound effects on all parties involved and continues to influence U.S. policy and international relations today. It's always crucial to learn from history to avoid repeating past mistakes and strive for peace and understanding among nations....how aout Iraq or any African countries or Middle east influence
this is video additition to the movie "apocalips today"!
Thank you,i have a lot of fun!
Crank up Mr. Jimmy and head out on the river at Can Tho looking for our brothers Chuck. Oh what a beautiful day it is running with Felix The Cat. Alpha Romeo overscore.
Did you know my brother Pete Frazier Snoopys nose
Recon "tunnel rats" life expectancy was less then months. No one who served was less than other. Semper Fi.
Little known were the 105 Howitzers on floating barges. This was Army, not Navy !
There were also barges rigged with sleeping quarters, a kitchen, showers etc. that served as a floating home base for several PBRs.
What are they shooting at?
We came, we rode, we smoked, we left. How many ship loads of cigarettes were senselessly smoked for nothing. We are searching these dangerous peasants.....calmly puffing on a Winston. And the music, God, the music.....still hear CCR in my sleep.....
I WAS THERE IN 1969-1970 PBR DIVISION 514 MEKONG DELTA/BA SOCK RIVER, BIEN THEY. I LIVE NOW IN ISRAEL RETIRED USN. NOW I LIVE WITH PIJ/HAMAS FIRING ROCKETS. BAD GUYS NEVER STOP. FORTUNATELY MY AREA IN ISRAEL HAS BEEN SPARED ANY DIRECT SO FAR HITS. PRAY FOR MANKIND TO HAVE PEACE NOT WAR.
The end of the world will start with the Russians and Chinese TRYING to destroy Israel. I served in Combat in Vietnam 1968-69...I pray my death is quick and painless in the next war.
Pop misses those days. S. Vietnam Navy running these river patrol boats.😢
My brother in law served with PBR RIV DIV 512 69 - 70. He rarely speaks about his time over there, but when he does it is about the incredibly brave men he served with.
Those "'bosts" you saw at the beginning of this vid were probably USCG 82 patrol boats!!+
To all who served Welcome Home and Thank You. Btw. That's Perry Mason narrating right? 🤔😏
To your dad and all the military veterans from USA and Allies having participated in Korean War and Vietnam War, thank you for your service for trying to contain the spread of the deadly and toxic Communism which remains an existential threat to individual freedom, human dignity, and basic decency worldwide even to these days. Commies are a stain on humanity! Perhaps just like the South Korean, the South Vietnamese feel forever grateful and indebted to the sacrifices of US and Allie troops during the eternal fight between good versus evil.
These protests played a significant role in shaping public opinion and ultimately influenced U.S. policy regarding the Vietnam War. It’s a testament to the power of peaceful protest and the impact that ordinary citizens can have on the course of history. Why?
Served Vietnamized RD 535 PBR6863 W/ RD' Robert W.Cole in MocHoa 1971. Refugee in The US 1979.
25.50 this rickety bridge reminds of the helicopter rescue scene in Deerhunter
I have great admiration for these brave guys sent to war by people sitting at home with their families.
This does come across as a propaganda film but then I guess they all were.
My neighbor was on those boats. He told me stories . 2 boats blown out from under him. God bless
Nobody should have been in Vietnam they were not a threat to us or any Western country we should be ashamed of ourselves they are beautiful and forgiving people all they did was defend their country against aggression