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| River Patrol Boats....also known as PBR's, were the police force of the Mekong Delta. These 31 foot jet-engined boats were manned by a crew of four men and traveled usually in units of two boats. Their mission was to stop the transportation Viet Cong and ammunition by means of the river system in the Delta of Vietnam. In order to accomplish this mission, Vietnamese rivercraft....Junks, Sampams...were boarded and searched for weapons and enemy personnel. They never knew when a boat would turn on them with guns and rockets blasting....PBR's were sometimes literally "blown" out of the water...the death and injury toll was high in this naval warfare. The men were trained in the backwaters of the San Diego area to operate these fast moving boats....then they went through a Vietnamese language course to learn the basics....then to a POW survival "camp" where they underwent a similated Prisoner of War internment....no food, water....physical punishment was realistic to the degree that one man in Tom's unit lost some teeth during an "interrogation" by the "enemy"....all this to prepare them in the event that they might be captured during combat. Then off to the Phillipines where they underwent a jungle survival training and how to "live off the land" if they were separated from their unit. Finally..... to Vietnam....the Boats operated from isolated bases on the Mekong, Basaalt and other rivers, usually in conjunction with Navy Seal units. Or they would often go out to sea and hook up with the LST's...they navigated in the ocean by means of radar....imagine being out to sea on a 31 foot boat in rough weather trying to locate a ship without lights or radio contact....in the black of night. For more information on this branch of the US Navy go to the Brown Water Navy site listed below..... |
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| http://hawley.hispeed.com/vietnam/DeathPBR.htm |
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| A Picture I found on the web...I am pretty positive this is Tom... One of the major net- works were in Vietnam at the time he was there fliming a documentary on the River Patrol Boats...the date is incorrect, but that doesn't mean anything after all these years....Anyone have any info on this? |
| Lyrics: For What It's Worth Artist: Buffalo Springfield, The Peak: #7 Lyrics: Stephen Stills Year: 1967 Theres something happening here What it is aint exactly clear There's a man with a gun over there Telling me I got to beware I think its time we stop, children, what's that sound...... Everybody look what's going down.. Theres battle lines being drawn Nobodys right if everybody's wrong Young people speaking their minds Getting so much resistance from behind I think its time we stop, hey, what's that sound..... Everybody look what's going down What a field-day for the heat... A thousand people in the street Singing songs and carrying signs Mostly say, hooray for our side. It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound Everybody look whats going down.... Paranoia strikes deep Into your life it will creep It starts when you're always afraid You step out of line, the man come and take you away.... We better stop, hey, what's that sound Everybody look whats going down Stop, hey, what's that sound... Everybody look what's going down Stop, now, what's that sound... Everybody look what's going down Stop, children, what's that sound... Everybody look whats going down... |
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