Pt. 8 - The River Rats - Pt. 2

The LCM-8 landing craft (usually called Mike boats) that I worked on and lived was like the semi-trucks of the river and canal systems in Vietnam. With a cargo capacity of 60 tons, the boats hauled everything imaginable around the country including armored vehicles, building supplies (for example, cement, rebar, and lumber), ammunition, food, beer, aviation fuel, drinking water, Agent Orange, etc.

For a more detailed look at what types of missions the Mike boats worked on in Vietnam, look here: http://grambo.us/atav/hartman.htm. By the way, this article was written by the skipper of the second boat I worked on, Buck Hartman.

The first boat I was assigned to worked pretty much exclusively supporting units of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade at artillery fire support bases located around the outskirts of Saigon in what was then called the Pineapples region (because of the abandoned French pineapple plantations in the area). The infantry provided security for these bases. We also hauled cannon and small arms ammunition into these firebases and delivered and picked up ambush patrols that were sent out every night beyond the perimeter of the base. These supplies would also be delivered by helicopter (usually Chinook or Huey aircraft) on a routine basis. 

We would also occasionally pick up Army Ranger Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols (LRRPs) at night from the river or canal banks and take them back to the relative safety of the firebases. On these missions, we would have a general idea where to pick these guys up, and when we were close they would signal us with their red flashlights, and we would drive up on to the riverside and drop the bow ramp to pick them up. These guys were never very chatty, always wore tiger-striped fatigues, soft hats, and had their faces painted, but were always willing to share their LRP rations with us which were way better than the C-rations we were supplied with.

On one of these LLRP pickup missions, for some reason, a Second Lieutenant from a firebase decided that he was going to direct that night's mission. I don't know if he was from the 199th or the artillery outfit, but he was pretty full of himself and insisted on directing the very simple operation which we had successfully completed several times. After a few minutes, the officer walked up to the bow of the 80-foot long boat and started yelling at the coxswain to "Pull in here!' We weren't close to the pickup point, so the coxswain declined, which resulted in more yelling from the officer. So, the coxswain spun the wheel to starboard which plowed the bow of the boat into the overhanging trees on the bank and knocked the officer into the water, where he started hollering even more until we fished him out. I can tell you that yelling was not considered something to do on night missions.

A few minutes later, when we successfully picked up the LRRPs, their squad leader asked us what all the "fucking noise for the last 15 minutes" was about. The coxswain said, "Ask the LT!"

One of the (BIG) problems we had at the firebases was occasionally getting ambushed from the banks of the river or canal banks. Our boats were very slow and easy targets. The vegetation was always so thick that there was always no way that you could see anyone that might want to kill you. Generally, when we moved down the canal or river away from the firebase, we were supported by Huey helicopter gunships or sometimes helicopter hunter/killer teams that circled over the boat until we returned to the firebase. We would also do something called "recon by fire" that meant we would fire our M-60 machine guns, M-14 rifles, or M-79s at both sides of the canal/riverbank in an effort to keep any bad guys heads down as we passed by. We couldn't fire the M2 machine guns at those times for fear of endangering the helicopter gunships.

The other thing that we did once was spray Agent Orange (yes, THAT Agent Orange) off of the boat's lowered bow ramp on to the foliage on the canal or riverbank. Our boat crew did not do this work, it was done by other GIs without shirts, gloves, or any other protective gear Let's hope that those men are still with us. The chemical did a great job of killing anything that it landed on and a lot of foliage on those riverbanks was totally decimated. The idea was that the bad guys couldn't hide in there anymore, but they found ways around that, believe me.

Next up - The Old Ultra-Violence!