White Water Red Hot Lead: On Board U.S. Navy Swift Boats in Vietnam

During the Vietnam war 3500 officers and men served in the Swift Boat program in a fleet of 130 boats with no armor plating. The boats patrolled the coast and rivers of South Vietnam, with the average age of the crew being twenty-four. Their days consisted of deadly combat, intense lightning firefights, storms and many hidden dangers. This action-packed story of combat written by Dan Daly, a Vietnam combat veteran who was the Officer in Charge of PCF 76 makes you part of the Swift Boat crew. The six man crew of PCF 76 were volunteers from all over the United States, eager to serve their country in a unique type of duty not seen since the PT boats of WWII. This inexperienced and disparate group of men would meld into a combat team - a team that formed an unbreakable, lifelong bond. After training they were plunged into a 12-month tour of duty. Combat took place in the closest confines imaginable, where the enemy were hidden behind a passing sand dune or a single sniper could be concealed in an onshore bunker. In many cases the rivers became so narrow there was barely room to maneuver or turn around. The only way out might be into a deadly ambush. Dan Daly received his naval commission after graduation from Harvard College. After 18 months on a Navy destroyer, he volunteered for Swift Boat duty. After training, he and his crew served 12 months in Vietnam, 196768. He later founded several consulting firms and lives on Cape Cod with his family. Table of Contents Acknowledgements Preface Swift Boat Terminology Maps and Charts Section I: Swift Boat School 1. Coronado Settling in 2. SERE: Survival Training 3. Shipping out from Coronado Section II: Da Nang Arrival, Coastal Div. 12 4. Moving into the Apple 5. First Patrol 6. Taking over PCF 76 7. Top Secret Call Signs 8. Beauty Sleep 9. Ball Cap Smithson 10. The Hospital Ship USS Repose Section III: Relocating South to Chu Lai 11. Chu Lai, the Base, Cos. Div. 16 12. The Firefi ght at Cap Batangan 13. Picking up Supplies 14. The Trawler, Skunk Alpha 15. Sampan Reconnaissance 16. Homemade Explosives 17. The Village Roundup 18. Return from the Southern Outpost Section IV: Da Nang to Cua Viet 19. Dinner on the USS Repose 20. Heading North to Cua Viet 21. Project Echo 22. Farewell Good Friend Section V: Operations at An Thoi, Coastal Div. 11 23. Bob Macks River Insertion 24. The Return and Pick up Section VI: All in a Days Work 25. A Tale to Tell back in Da Nang 26. New Job, Maintenance Management 27. Puff the Magic Dragon 28. Hawaiian Rendezvous 29. Tet in the Da Nang River 30. Tough Trip to North Vietnam Section VII: Homeward Bound 31. Final Orders, Packing up 32. Welcome Home? Epilogue The Crew of PCF 76: Current Locations Swift Boat Skippers 2007 Appendix: Swift Boat Specifications