It was one of those DREADFUL night patrols. The details of the night briefing kept lingering in my mind. I was sure that this was also on the minds of my crew and the crew of PBR-139. The Patrol Officer was "MOT" Davis, and he was riding onboard PBR-139.
The weather was HUMID as ever with intermittent rain. The sky was overcast with brief moments of the moon peeking out behind the clouds. It was dark and the DANK smell of the river was compounded by the ODIOUS smell coming from a nearby "NUC MAM" factory added to the eerie ambiance of the night. I could feel that something was weird was about to happen, but I couldn't figure out what.
This was the UPPER CUA DAI, the area where the Vietcong's rampant activities were reported. Knowing this, it was only prudent and good to practice EXPECTING the UNEXPECTED.
I had already made several passing runs in my patrol area. I knew that there WATCHFUL eyes somewhere in those river banks, STUDYING every move I make. The speed, turns, the points of runs, etc... is a description of a PATTERN. With this, "CHARLIE" knows exactly what PBR, and Boat Captain, is on patrol in the river.
But, I never made such PATTERNS. This also included the minimal use of the RAYTHEON 500 Series Radar. At night , this radar scope emits a GLOW when being used. It becomes a "DEAD GIVE-AWAY" for snipers and ambush squads to sight on. To compensate for this, I had studied the CONFIGURATION of the TREE TOPS (or "tree line") during the day patrols, and compared their SILHOUTTE at night. Through months of practice, I was able to NAVIGATE and know my position at night just by LOOKING at the silhouttle of thos tree tops. This put a step ahead of "Charlie". I believe that best offense AND defense in this type of war is to THINK LIKE THE ENEMY.
Suddenly, my radio sounded with a message coming from "Mot" Davis to rendevous with PBR-139. As I came alongside, "Mot" Davis pointed to an object in the water approximately 30 meters away. At first glance, it was just the TRUNK of a BANANA tree, however, the CLOSER we got, a HUMAN BODY started to become visible. I ordered my crew to point our searchlights at the object, and it was only then that we had a clear view of what the object was.
It was a CORPSE, with it's HEAD and HANDS "staked" on the trunk of the banana tree. Both PBR's made several passes to MAKE SURE that it wasn't BOOBY-TRAPPED. After making sure that it wasn't, the crew of PBR-139 used a BOAT HOOK to get the reel in the corpse, tied a rope around the trunk of the banana tree, and towed it. "Mot" Davis soon called MY THO headquarters and reported the incident. HQ replied and advised us to take the corpse to the nearest ARMY HEADQUARTERS at "Dong Tam".
It was a good 45 minutes run to Dong Tam and I placed my boat (PBR-142) within 30 meters ASTERN of PBR-139. With them towing our find, It was a slow-paced and VERY TENSE run. As I watched PBR-139 come alongside the ARMY pier in Dong Tam, my radio sounded: "Huk, WHERE's the Mot?"
This truly PUZZLED me, and my reply was: "What do you MEAN? The Mot was on YOUR boat!"
EN2 Davis replied: "He's IN THE WATER. He JUMPED and MISSED the pier."
All I could say was: "WHAT?!"
My crew were as PUZZLED as myself, and all I could say was: "Look for the Mot, he's SOMEWHERE in the water!"
Soon after, the "Mot" was spotted "bobbing up and down" by the SPLASH BOARD" of PBR-139, close to where the floating corpse was. The crew of PBR-139 pulled the "Mot" out of the water, and soon after he was safely on the pier. He started talking with the U.S. Army representatives in Dong Tam.
We really didn't get a good look at the corpse. All I knew is that it was a MALE wearing a green uniform. It was a day later that we were informed that the corpse was an American G.I.
For the "Mot"? Well, he probably had a REAL GOOD look at it. He was IN the WATER WITH the corpse. Had it not been for the quick reaction of PBR-139, there would have been TWO (2) bodies FLOATING IN THE WATER in Dong Tam rather than one (1). That being said, I was sure the "Mot" had a COOL and REFRESHING evening throughout the night.
For us, it was just "one of those patrols with the 'MOT' ". It our get-togethers, often one (1) of our crew would jokingly say "Where's the MOT?" It became one of those incidents that would give us some laughter.
NEXT: "Psychological Warfare"...Game of Fools
The weather was HUMID as ever with intermittent rain. The sky was overcast with brief moments of the moon peeking out behind the clouds. It was dark and the DANK smell of the river was compounded by the ODIOUS smell coming from a nearby "NUC MAM" factory added to the eerie ambiance of the night. I could feel that something was weird was about to happen, but I couldn't figure out what.
This was the UPPER CUA DAI, the area where the Vietcong's rampant activities were reported. Knowing this, it was only prudent and good to practice EXPECTING the UNEXPECTED.
I had already made several passing runs in my patrol area. I knew that there WATCHFUL eyes somewhere in those river banks, STUDYING every move I make. The speed, turns, the points of runs, etc... is a description of a PATTERN. With this, "CHARLIE" knows exactly what PBR, and Boat Captain, is on patrol in the river.
But, I never made such PATTERNS. This also included the minimal use of the RAYTHEON 500 Series Radar. At night , this radar scope emits a GLOW when being used. It becomes a "DEAD GIVE-AWAY" for snipers and ambush squads to sight on. To compensate for this, I had studied the CONFIGURATION of the TREE TOPS (or "tree line") during the day patrols, and compared their SILHOUTTE at night. Through months of practice, I was able to NAVIGATE and know my position at night just by LOOKING at the silhouttle of thos tree tops. This put a step ahead of "Charlie". I believe that best offense AND defense in this type of war is to THINK LIKE THE ENEMY.
Suddenly, my radio sounded with a message coming from "Mot" Davis to rendevous with PBR-139. As I came alongside, "Mot" Davis pointed to an object in the water approximately 30 meters away. At first glance, it was just the TRUNK of a BANANA tree, however, the CLOSER we got, a HUMAN BODY started to become visible. I ordered my crew to point our searchlights at the object, and it was only then that we had a clear view of what the object was.
It was a CORPSE, with it's HEAD and HANDS "staked" on the trunk of the banana tree. Both PBR's made several passes to MAKE SURE that it wasn't BOOBY-TRAPPED. After making sure that it wasn't, the crew of PBR-139 used a BOAT HOOK to get the reel in the corpse, tied a rope around the trunk of the banana tree, and towed it. "Mot" Davis soon called MY THO headquarters and reported the incident. HQ replied and advised us to take the corpse to the nearest ARMY HEADQUARTERS at "Dong Tam".
It was a good 45 minutes run to Dong Tam and I placed my boat (PBR-142) within 30 meters ASTERN of PBR-139. With them towing our find, It was a slow-paced and VERY TENSE run. As I watched PBR-139 come alongside the ARMY pier in Dong Tam, my radio sounded: "Huk, WHERE's the Mot?"
This truly PUZZLED me, and my reply was: "What do you MEAN? The Mot was on YOUR boat!"
EN2 Davis replied: "He's IN THE WATER. He JUMPED and MISSED the pier."
All I could say was: "WHAT?!"
My crew were as PUZZLED as myself, and all I could say was: "Look for the Mot, he's SOMEWHERE in the water!"
Soon after, the "Mot" was spotted "bobbing up and down" by the SPLASH BOARD" of PBR-139, close to where the floating corpse was. The crew of PBR-139 pulled the "Mot" out of the water, and soon after he was safely on the pier. He started talking with the U.S. Army representatives in Dong Tam.
We really didn't get a good look at the corpse. All I knew is that it was a MALE wearing a green uniform. It was a day later that we were informed that the corpse was an American G.I.
For the "Mot"? Well, he probably had a REAL GOOD look at it. He was IN the WATER WITH the corpse. Had it not been for the quick reaction of PBR-139, there would have been TWO (2) bodies FLOATING IN THE WATER in Dong Tam rather than one (1). That being said, I was sure the "Mot" had a COOL and REFRESHING evening throughout the night.
For us, it was just "one of those patrols with the 'MOT' ". It our get-togethers, often one (1) of our crew would jokingly say "Where's the MOT?" It became one of those incidents that would give us some laughter.
NEXT: "Psychological Warfare"...Game of Fools
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