My dad was a river rat and fought 1970-71. He is still alive. He has dealt with a lot of PTSD. Lots of nightmares but doing better
@kelvin50052 жыл бұрын
please foward my thanks for him as a veteran
@leonleon22762 жыл бұрын
Nightmares from murdering women and kids I bet
@FoundingYouTuber-2005 Жыл бұрын
I was there too, in those same years. There were a lot of us river rats, but odds are 1 in 9 I probably crossed paths with him since the whole of South Vietnam was mapped into only 9 areas.
@JoeLove-od3gv6 ай бұрын
Tell him I said thanks
@vnvet22824 ай бұрын
Was there also 1970-1971. We could have met. Hard to believe half a century has passed. My boat was an armored troop carrier (ATC-53). Our water supply was fouled by fuel oil. No bottled water back then. We hydrated on soda and beer and ate WW II vintage K-rations. After returning at age 20, I was thrown out of bar while ordering a beer with friends for being a minor. Humiliating. Old enough for combat, but not for having a beer with friends in my home town. After the war and that experience, I knew the world was f nuts. @@FoundingKZfaqr-2005
@user-vk4vy7gt2v Жыл бұрын
My old man, boatswains mate 1st class, USN, USS Hornet, 1965-66, operation JACKSTAY, commandeered a boat without sonar, armed with a single .50 cal aft, and .60 mm mortar foreward...maneuvered around the mekon delta to draw enemy fire and return fire upon said enemy positions so other boats could recover so-called navy seals...his co shot in the head and died in his arms...my dad and the rest of his crew came home physically unscathed and all awarded the silver star in the best interests of USN standards. He was not a hero, just a survivor...in his own words on his death bed at 75 yo...."i remember coming out of the jungle with my friends dripping wet in orange juice"...and when that PBY rose off the water to take me home...everything hit me at once...the loss of friends, the anger, my love and my fear and I sobbed like a baby." MY OLD MAN IS THE STRONGEST MAN I KNOW...NO-ONE CAN CHEW MY ASS LIKE HE DID, NO-ONE MEASURES UP TO HIS MORALS OR STRENGTHS...HE WAS MY MENTOR, MY GUIDE, MY DAD...ABOVE ALL...MY BEST FRIEND!!! I HEAR HIS VOICE ALL THE TIME, ADIOS TIGER....I MISS HIM VERY MUCH...
@user-nc3pt7zc3c3 ай бұрын
Your Dad was a Hero. May He RIP ❤
@homiehomerson27052 ай бұрын
Amen
@stevenlovell82922 жыл бұрын
My father was in River Division 192 0n a LST. He received 2 purple hearts from rocket attacks. He was sent to Okuska, Japan for the first one and was sent home after the second. He is alive and well enjoying his retirement in Tennessee after working at Boeing for 30 years in Everett, Washington
@gregwarner3753 Жыл бұрын
I only had to watch 4 minutes to wonder what war this guy is talking about. These posts wake memories I though I had buried. Tough war, tough times, Great guys.
@benbailey20375 ай бұрын
I agree his view is swayed. My dad was on a boat in the delta He told me there were areas that basically were free fire areas. If we felt we were threatened we lit them up. He didnt have a. Very globilst view . lol
@GwynCann Жыл бұрын
This film misidentifies the USS Harnett County (LST 821) as a Task Force 117 Mobile River Assault craft. The Harnett County was not attached to TF-117, but rather to TF-116 "Operation Game Warden." There were four Game Warden LSTs supporting the PBRs and Seawolf helicopters as shown in this film, three continuously on one of three of the major Mekong Delta rivers, and one being repaired and refitted in Subic Bay at any one moment in time. The three others were: the USS Hunterdon County (LST 838), USS Jennings County (LST-846), and the USS Garrett County (LST 786). I was a very junior ensign on the Hunterdon County for twelve months 1967-1968.
@mtodd5014 жыл бұрын
Red River Valley Fighters Pilots Association “The River Rats” today Honored our Gold Star Mom’s - Thank You !!
@swaghauler83343 жыл бұрын
Please rewind the tape when you're done watching it.
@CombatDoc542 жыл бұрын
LMAO ... You old f*ck. I'm right there with you. I remember going to a video store and renting not only the tapes but the VHS player as well. I had forgotten all about that shit. Those VHS players back then was worth a week or two paychecks.
@ThePrader2 жыл бұрын
You have not lived until you have driven a PBR. Once you have done that, then you have to water=ski behind one. I wonder what happened to my old boat.
@alanhorning79642 жыл бұрын
I was 21 when I got on the that dam that river and for two years everyday we were under fire. It sucked and I went home and with the welcome I got there is why I left to come back to the river. Otherwise it would not be good for me at home. When I was discharged I went to Australia for two years and then came home.
@rdejesus65972 жыл бұрын
Welcome home Sir!
@vnvet22823 ай бұрын
I did a tour on an ATC in 1970, returning home at age 20 in 1970. What really pissed me off was getting asked to leave a bar in my home town because I was not yet 21, the legal age. There are many ironies here, the greatest being that the water on my boat was contaminated with fuel oil. We were delivered soda and beer to hydrate. The soda went first then we all just drank beer all day, every day. At 20, I was considered old enough to kill and forced to drink beer.
@GarryLampshire3 ай бұрын
I was in the delta on the Tom Green County LST 1159 and the Terreĺ County LST 1157 in 1967 thru 1969.
@AnhTran-dv3ht Жыл бұрын
Thank you for your help to fight for freedom of S.VietNam I was a Vietnamization of that war in 1970. PBR 6863 PD 535 MocHoa with Boat Capt. RD' Robert W. Cole
@mirage44562 жыл бұрын
The brown water navy did it all.
@asullivan4047 Жыл бұрын
Interesting and informative. Excellent photography job making it easier for viewers to better understand what the orator was describing. Class A research project!!! Special thanks to the veteran river 🐀 rat patrols. Sharing personal information/combat experiences. Making this documentary more authentic and possible. Fighting/perishing/surviving knowing certain death/debilitating wounds were often possible. Yet still advanced forward regardless of the consequences. That's true grit style determination to succeed. Either way it takes Brass Testicles to engage the enemy as a river/tunnel 🐀rat!!!
@l.garcia3525 Жыл бұрын
"ALL gave some, Some gave ALL". We will never forget. 🤨.. SM2 L. Garcia USN. Tin-Can-Sailor... 😊
@lindlehodges5 ай бұрын
Has anyone heard of the "Swamp Rats" 15th div. ? They served in the MeCong delta.
@m.larsen4751 Жыл бұрын
Was there 1966-Oct 11, 1967😊
@wesleybarden64883 жыл бұрын
Was river rat too 65 67 he'll on river Wesley b
@melodyprice47572 жыл бұрын
My papaw was a river rat. He was in Vietnam from 1966-69
@marisadoran48714 жыл бұрын
My daddy was a river rat
@USN3082 жыл бұрын
@@brucemullen3889 The STABs? (SEAL Team Assault Boat)
@melodyprice47572 жыл бұрын
@@brucemullen3889 My papaw was a river rat. He was in Vietnam from 1966-69. I never knew how badass he was until I was bartending on veterans day. Made some small talk about him with some vets I was serving, once i found out they were Vietnam vets I told them he was a river rat their eyes got big and one guy proceeded to tell me exactly how dangerous that job was.
@melodyprice47572 жыл бұрын
@@brucemullen3889 I'm not sure what division but I remember him telling me he was on the Mekong delta. His name is Bill Lane from VA.
@melodyprice47572 жыл бұрын
@@brucemullen3889 he also did a tour on the USS Benowah. He was on a machine gun until he burst an ear drum so they put him as a clerk. His 1st day there his office got blown away, if i remember correctly I believe he told me it was hit by a torpedo.
@CombatDoc542 жыл бұрын
@@brucemullen3889 Hey Bruce, where at in NW Arkansas? I lived in Springdale, now live outside of Branson, Missouri in Kimberling City.
@samuelssalgado52492 жыл бұрын
Yes
@briansumner27004 жыл бұрын
Good vid. We remember those marines who fought and died.
@CombatDoc542 жыл бұрын
Yes!! Remember the Marines. All these guys are Navy.
@Mk18_40mm Жыл бұрын
Navy did All of this, not the Marines.
@ramirezbubble90922 жыл бұрын
Only. senior. GORENA. BLESS. WHIT ..ALL HONORS. MEDALS. NAVY
@garylyons30366 ай бұрын
Why don't we have boats somewhat like these only upgraded with modern weapons a main gun like an Abrams and mini guns like a 10 and so on might be nice to have.
@USN3083 жыл бұрын
Lots of misinformation in this; PBRs are all fiberglass, no aluminum, that would be a Swift boat ,Command boat, or a monitor boat ("Zippo") 31 ' LOA, not 32 ft., & they draw a helluva lot more than 1 ft. of water (draft) also, no .30 cal. anywhere on these; twin .50 fwd., single .50 aft & 2 Honeywell 40mm hand cranked belt-fed grenade launchers, 1 per side. (Not always fitted.) ATSB 1, at yer service. ("Advanced Tactical Support Base" = 2 big steel barges lashed together, anchored in the middle of the river at Tan Chau.)
@pattdaniel10732 жыл бұрын
I was a river rat 68-69. MRF MOBILE RIVERINE FORCE. Our boats where all aluminum. Each squadron was made up of 4 different type of boats.
@CombatDoc542 жыл бұрын
There maybe a bit of misinformation here and you are correct in most aspects of your comment. With that being said, the "draft" of the boat is based on a non-loaded boat" No fuel, nothing. The un-loaded "draft is 18". of a fiberglass PBR. The fiberglass hulled PBR's weren't being constructed until 1968. So forget about the Navy's designation, "PBR", there were so many variations of these boats, so many designations, so many different armaments that people just came to rely on the familiar designation of "PBR". The actual fiberglass version of the PBR was crafted after a civilian style pleasure boat hull. The thing that made these different with such a low draft was the fact they were not propeller driven. They were equipped with water jets just like a jet ski. They didn't have a propeller or rudder sticking down. In order to steer the boat, the jets moved starboard and port. That way they can truly say these boats had a "low" draft because they didn't have these downward protrusions. If you remove the rudder and propeller, you would remove about a foot under the craft. Prior to the fiberglass hulls, some of these (for the sake of argument we'll loosely use the term PBR because there were so many variations of them) the Navy did use aluminum, The Navy contract also used wooden hulled PBR (again, I use the terminology "PBR" loosely for the sake of argument) boats made from a marine type of plywood in the early days. The real reason that the Navy quit using the plywood and went to aluminum was the fact that VC forces began using rudimentary attacks against these patrol boats by actually using "flaming arrows". YES, Bows and Arrows. I don't know if any of these "flaming arrows" ever caused much destruction on the patrol boats, but the were definitely a diversion tactic causing much distraction on a boat.
@michaelpayne4232 жыл бұрын
was aboard the YRBM-16 at Tan Chau 70 / 71
@vnvet22823 ай бұрын
@@michaelpayne423 After our boat (ATC-53) was turned over to the South Vietnamese during the monsoon season in 1970, I spent the last few months in country at a a small ARVN base at Tan Chau where an Admiral and staff coordinated the movement of relief supplies into Cambodia during Pol Pot. I was a radioman, working in the comms shack. Small world. Welcome back.
@Red_exploderАй бұрын
What’s a river rat? I heard of a tunnel rat just not a river one
@kerrysmollen88793 жыл бұрын
Oooo
@drewinsur73212 ай бұрын
22:16 wtf is this called
@paulhetherington3854 Жыл бұрын
RATTS - SWDEN -- Sioux - for: Left overs. Mid Ratts... How many, MDs are left? Hospitals in - Warfares! Not food - per se.
@declanmurphy64272 жыл бұрын
US army give themselves great nick names, a bit like sports teams do, but they never win anything😂🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣🤣🤣
@swaghauler8334 Жыл бұрын
The US Army had NOTHING to do with the PBRs. Those are Navy and Marine personel.
@declanmurphy6427 Жыл бұрын
@@swaghauler8334 they all work for the same company!
@Mk18_40mm Жыл бұрын
🤡
@raverconvict48834 жыл бұрын
This is propaganda. My Buddy was blown out of his boat AND THE rivers they to traverse was so small.