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cgc
Seaman Recruit
Joined: 03 Jun 2004
Posts: 47
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 Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 10:37 am Post subject: Bay Hap |
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If I was ever up the Bay Hap I don't remember the name. The only actual name I remember in An Toi is the Roch Dung Keo, (hope I got the spelling right) thats where we lost the 43 boat. Most of the memories are faded at best, The Dung Keo stands out because of the day and the events. I started in Danang, September 68, and we went to An Toi around Jan. 69 I also belong to Swift Boat Sailors Association. I made it home in Sept. 69. Spent some time in Quin Nhon also, My crew was on many boats. Crew 6C, we went to Coronado in June of 68. My fellow crewmembers were Holloway, Sumpter, Decker, Krause, OIC Puppe, we also had a GMG3 relief for Holloway, he was from Beloit, Wisconsin I believe his name was spelled Stindl. Holloway, Decker and Stindl didn't make it out of An Toi. Wish we could tone down this debate a little bit and have a conversation. I would like to thing Saint and the other who post all the venom on here are truly well meaning, or at the least misinformed about Kerry's character, Regardless of Kerry's political affliation or his present day morp into Mr. Viet Nam, He said some things on record that discredit a lot of good men and women and fellow vets. We lost three fine young men on my crew , Kerry in 1971 did nothing but dishonor their memory and the thousands of other young men who payed the price. He can't have it both ways now.
cgc 68-69 Swift Boats |
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DougReese
Former Member
Joined: 22 May 2004
Posts: 396
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| Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 11:07 am Post subject: Re: Bay Hap |
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| cgc wrote: | | If I was ever up the Bay Hap I don't remember the name. The only actual name I remember in An Toi is the Roch Dung Keo, (hope I got the spelling right) thats where we lost the 43 boat. Most of the memories are faded at best, The Dung Keo stands out because of the day and the events. |
I'd venture a guess that you were definitely up the Bay Hap. And yes, you were close on the spelling -- it's Rach Duong Keo. Rach = Canal.
The two main rivers in the southern part of the province were the Cua Lon (that's where Seafloat/Solid Anchor was), and just to the north of that was the Bay Hap.
To get to the Duong Keo you didn't have to use either of those rivers, however, as it was off the very southern tip of the province, directly off the South China Sea.
The village we were in was the site of the last (southernmost) bridge in Vietnam, although only the steel framework was left.
If you're like a lot of the Swifties, one river/village was pretty much the same as another, since you guys went up/down all over the place day to day. Like you said -- It's just when something happens that makes an impression (like 12 April), good or bad, that the place/incident sticks in your mind.
This worked for Joe Muharsky, let's see if it does for you: When we returned from an operation down on the Cua Lon, which included an overnight on the LST with the VN soldiers (memorable for us, but normal for you), the Swifts brought us back to our village. The previous two days were pretty much uneventful.
So there we all were -- the Swifts tied up at the village dock, and everyone sitting around taking a break, before they were to head back to the LST. Then we had incoming! The Swifts, well, it was like a Chinese fire drill, trying to back up and get out of there. Boats were backing into each other, going every which way. Needless to say, that little dock was destroyed in the process.
Turns out it wasn't incoming -- someone set off a couple of claymores near the outpost on the other side of the river.
Sound familiar?
By the way, I'm sure you know about this, but just in case . . . you do know about the documentary Tracy Droz did, don't you?
Doug |
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cgc
Seaman Recruit
Joined: 03 Jun 2004
Posts: 47
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| Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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I have heard about Tracy's video, but never saw it. Destroying the dock and trying to get out of the area, It really doesn't do a thing for my memory, so I probably wasn't there. One canal looks like all the rest, most of the time we just wanted to get back out the same way as we went in and the name didn't matter. An Toi was such a long time ago, Does anybody remember the Monkey that Sumpter and I brought back to the repair boat. I always wondered what happened to the little guy. The story about how we got it is hilarious. Looking back its too bad that digital cameras and movie cameras were not available. I would love to have recorded some of the things we all saw and did. I went back to Viet Nam last year in October and took a thre day tour of the Mekong and did a home stay with a Vietnamese family. The old people, (like myself) still have memories of the Americans, most of them good. It was a fasinating journey back into time. And seeing Viet Nam as a tourist was a real eye opener, A lot different from the deck of a 50' boat. Got to go, I'm working this morning. Thanks for the post.
cgc 68-69 An Toi /Danang |
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