Some of my Navy stuff

[river rat]

When I was in SBU XI when you got SNEC 9533 combat crewman qualified you got a flash for the beret the flash is probably rare since the unit been decommissioned years ago. And the Olongapo watch bands we use to get made in the Philippines and a few patches figured I would post them here since there seldom seen. The flash is the twin 50 gun tub on a PBR was hard to earn took me a year to get that sucker when I got qualified NEC 9533.

Information

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[Bob Womack]

Brown water Navy. A rough life. But you know that.

Bob

[river rat]

There still around today but called special boat teams and better and faster boats. Here is a link about my old unit and a few others. Most did not know the Navy kept them around after Vietnam.
Special Boat Unit - 11

[Bob Womack]

Yeah, my across-the-street neighbor is transitioning from active duty as a Riverine to being an instructor. Tough dude, but nice. He's probably based at Little Creek.

Bob

[Seaspriter]

Olongapo

My memories of Olongapo City are some of the most vivid from the war -- Pauline's in particular, Jeepny's -- it was the real Sodom & Gomorrah. A whole thread on Olongopo would make some fascinating reading for some of us Vietnam vets that spent time in Subic Bay. I was part of Operation Linebacker in '72. I will share my recollections if others have stories to tell.

[Cosine26]

Here you go! $h-t River

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...psv9uzgzbs.png

[river rat]

Cosine26 That photo of **** river bring back memories the first time I went over there they had no fence going of the bridge so in day light they would have the kids swimming in that sewer water asking for peso's they would catch the coin before it hit bottom don't know how they saw it in the black water were you could not see your hand in front of your face. Then at night there would be the **** river queens fancy dressed women in the bongo boat with baskets to catch the peso's. Next time a few years later the military put up a fence so no more peso throwing that was around 1984. Dam that river stunk all the sewage of Olongapo went into it. Mods I used the terminology we used at the time when in the military if the one would I won't repeat is not with forum rules delete this reply.

[Cosine26]

River Rat
Do you remember that the boys saw that the girls were getting all of the coins, so they took these conical shaped Dixie cups and stuck them under their T Shirts? I was there in 1972, Just in time for the Easter Offensive. Spent sixty- two days on the line and was with the force that mined Haiphong.
Long time ago.
Never shot a twin fifty but spent some time with a 20mm Oerlikon in WWII.
This is what we had in Korea-a quad fifty for air defense.
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...pszebeihrg.jpg

[Seaspriter]

the force that mined Haiphong.

We were part of Squadron 20 that went into Haiphong harbor in the summer of '72. Our sister ship, the Warrington, a FRAMed WWII destroyer, went into the harbor, hit a mine, and was disabled; she had to be towed out to safety. When we got back to Subic Bay, there she sat in drydock, hogged in the middle, but hadn't sunk. The damage was so severe she had to be scrapped. My buddy, Dave Dwyer, was the Engineering Officer on board. He was below decks in the engine room when they hit the mine. The shock was so bad his back was broken. But he had the courage to haul out one of his men to safety. Virtually no one knew of the incident.

Our ship, a Fast Frigate, had 50 caliber M2s mounted on our superstructure. What an experience when those were fired along with our 5 inch 50 that fired 45 rounds a minute. We were in the gun line at the DMZ with spotters on the Ho Chi Min Trail. But that was peanuts compared to the blast from the Cruisers on the gun line -- the ocean rumbled when they let loose.

We had it easy compared to the riverines -- they were the real heroes, the most dangerous missions were up the rivers. I salute my buddies who had that duty -- some of my friends didn't come back to tell their stories.

[river rat]

When I was in the brown water Navy it was in the 1980's after Vietnam SBU XI was half active duty and halve reserve we still had a few Vietnam vet's in the unit one was Chief Anderson he never talked about it. In Calf the Navy closed all the bases in the 1990's Mare Island was one of them so SBU XI got decommissioned the brown water Navy lives on with special boat team 22 on the east coast. The last unit before I retired was MIUW 103 a harbor security unit. Well I got to see Chief Anderson retire we were out in the field we use a car jack stand to ring him off and when they read the medals he received in Vietnam your mouth dropped he told us a few stories about it the only time he ever did. On active duty I was on the USS Mauna Kea AE-22 then the USS Proteus AS-19 the rest I did in the reserve. One thing about you Vietnam vet you guys are tight the last reunion for the USS Mauna Kea AE -22 90% that showed was the Vietnam era crew. My Dad was a crew chief on helicopters over in Nam a Navy crew chief on a Army helicopter they did salvage ops for the Navy and Army he was also a WW2 and Korea vet miss him he past away last year.