C.N. Bring's Blog: The Celia Kelly Series, page 4

BURN DOWN A MOUNTAIN

Strive not to be a success but rather to be of value. –Albert Einstein

This is one of my favorite quotes and all of us in my opinion should be finding somewhat to make a difference in the world around us. 21 year old film maker Jesse Abbot is trying to do just that.  He is not just making a film, but taking on the challenge to infect change with Burn Down A Mountain.  Abbot went to college for photography at North Georgia Tech. After that he became an intern for Silent Images in North Carolina.

It may interest you to know that a large number of boys are lost each year to the sex trade and human trafficking here in the United States and abroad. Males versus females males are considered an more expensive product and guarded more heavily.

The story is told a documentary, with actors. Take a look at the project.

THE ISSUE

There are currently more slaves on Earth than there have been in history. The sale

and trafficking of humans is currently a $32 billion world business and is made of

some 30 million victims and according to the U.S. State Department, 600,000 to

800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. 50% of these

are children. There is approximately $300 million in the Atlanta sex trade yearly.

THE FILM

A young boy, sold into sexual slavery in Southeast Asia and brought to the

United States faces the loss of innocence, the silence of captivity, and the

dark reality of the world’s most elusive crime in this hybrid documentary

narrative piece.

THE MISSION

The title of the film, “Burn Down A Mountain” comes from two concepts. One, the

idea that man‟s voice has been referenced, for centuries, to a breath of fire that it

can destroy, create and alter, and two, the age old adage portraying problems,

issues, and tribulations as a mountain that we must command to move. With this

film we want to literally, „burn down‟ the „mountain‟ of human slavery.

We are calling you, advocates, friends, human rights warriors, the world to take a

stand for the 27 million+ slaves worldwide, for the over 100 thousand slaves in the

US each year, against the roughly $300 million in Atlanta‟s sex trade, against the

sale of children who have lost their innocence and their life, against the sons and

daughters sold by their parents. We do not only want awareness, but action. Our

mission is freedom.

The opposite of good is not evil; it is indifference. In a free society where terrible

wrongs exist, some are guilty, but all are responsible.

THE NEED

This film carries the potential for global impact. We want not only awareness

(though much is still needed), but action. The current budget for the film is set at

$250,000 which includes production and related expenses such as distribution and

transportation. However, due to the potential power of this project, our goal is to

give back to directly impact the lives of victims, no matter their faith, ethnicity or

background. We will need your help to make this goal, this fight, and this mission a

reality. Help us be the voice for millions of slaves world-wide.

 

 Be The Voice 2015

Visual Journey Media

Phoenix Four

Join the fight, through prayer or donation!

Strong Women and Personal Defense By Former Marine

Strong Woman C. Gale Perkins

C. Gale Perkins

It’s such a pleasure to introduce C. Gale Perkins. Gale lives in Massachusetts in the summer and Florida in the winter. She lives with Ervin Harmon and they have been together now for 14 years. Gale met Erv 2 years after her husband of 42 years passed on.  Gale and her husband Evan had 3 children and have several grandchildren and several Great Grandchildren.  This is one of the many miracles that God performed in her life because she was told by the doctors I could not have children, but fortunately that was not God’s plan for Gale. She is also survivor of Tuberculosis, spending 12 years of her childhood in the hospital. They said she would not live past sixteen…today she is 80. You must read the uplifting and moving journey of C. Gale Perkins, author of The Baby’s Cross, her personal story.

What do you do for a living?

I am retired now.   My last working position was in a private psyche/substance hospital as director of Occupational therapy.  I worked in that position for 25 years.   I really liked my job as it was helping people and each day was challenging and very interesting.  Prior to the above position I worked as a CNA, Data processing for the IRS and as a private secretary.

I did work as a professional clown for 30 years. It was such a rewarding time in my life. I did clowning in nursing homes, at hospitals, and also at birthday parties for kids. I loved it and my clown name was hugsNkisses. I chose this name because the hugs I got were so important to me after being in a body cast for many years. The first time I actually received a hug without the cast was a wonderful feeling. As a clown we always would take on other characters and in 1981 after seeing the movie ET I did that character. I would go wherever I was called to represent ET, but my favorite was for my two years old grandson Timmy. He called me ET Grandma…how precious is that!

  

What was your training and education?

I went grade 1-8 in Lakeville Hospital, at 15 I left the hospital and went into Jr. High, 9TH grade.  I graduated high School, and then went to two years of Business School, specialized as a comptometer operator. I worked as a private secretary for two years, then married and stayed home after my children were born. The need to make some money after buying a house and raising 3 children, I decided to look for a part time job.  The IRS was hiring I applied, passed the test and was hired. I worked two seasons for them.   It was not an easy position for me physically; I gave notice and did not return the next season. I always dreamed of becoming a nurse.   Due to my younger years and being a ward of the state, Mass Rehab had the say as to what would be the best education for me. Nursing was not what they felt I could do. Hairdressing was my next pick and that was not on the list they had. Occupational therapy was not on the list either, I told them they needed to tell me not ask me, so it was business college for me.What is your idea of strength?

My strength was my faith, without it I wouldn’t be able to do all that was in God’s plan for me.

When I was 7 and made my first communion and learned about God.  My Dad left my Mom when she was pregnant with me and never returned. My mom contacted tuberculosis and died at 24 years of age.  I went into the hospital at age 4 and when all the children were having visitors I would feel so lonely until I made my first communion and I adopted God and the Blessed Mother as my parents, never to feel lonely in those 12 long years of being hospitalized.When the children would cry when their parents left them I was put in charge of talking to them and making them feel better. I would tell them about my parents in the sky and that they never left me and I would be willing to share them with each and every one who felt lonely.What a gift I received I feel the same way today as I did back then. My special parents have been with me through my journey. My guardians were told when I left the hospital at 15 that I would not live past 16. On November 14, 2013 I turned 80. There is no doubt that my faith is my strength.



Who inspired you as you were growing up?

The nurses, attendants (today CNA’s), teachers, my aunts that visited when they could I believe if I had to pick one it would be my teacher who was with me through grades 1-7.   I was inspired by her knowledge the way she dressed and her absolute kindness. When I left the hospital and went to live with my Aunt and Uncle it was my Uncles Mom that inspired me the most.  She taught me how to live in a world that was foreign to me after being institutionalized for so long. Of course I carried my never ending faith with me also.

Does your faith play a part in who you are and what you do?

My faith is all that I am.   I never would have made it through the journey if I didn’t have it.  As I mentioned earlier having parents: God and the Blessed Mother, was such a comfort to me as they were always reachable to help me through the tougher times. I truly believe what I had was unconditional love.

What was the most difficult struggle you had to overcome along the way?

Learning to walk, being paralyzed for three years it almost seemed impossible. I had a brace on my back and braces on both my legs with a 6’ lift on my right shoe. I refused to use crutches so it made the struggle harder.  I would ask my heavenly parents to hold my hands and I know they did as I was able to achieve the challenge of walking.  Eventually the braces were removed as was the lift on my shoe. My faith gave me many miracles throughout my life.

Did you ever want to give up? What kept you going?

Many times I wanted to give up, but my faith and a little baby that came into my family who was my Aunt Ginnies daughter kept me going.  It was the first time I thought about leaving the hospital, when I found out I would be living with them it made me do whatever the doctors asked of me so I could leave.  I was almost 15 when I left and Marjie the little baby was almost two.

What has been the most rewarding experience in your life/and or career? Why?

The most rewarding experience in my life was walking, getting married, having my three children and having my own home. Watching my children grow and then having children of their own.

In my career it was being director of Occupational Therapy, training students from the occupational therapy schools for their practice in psyche. Each year the State would want more programs and although it was tough at times it was so rewarding when the programs I would present were accepted and worked. I did not have a degree in Occupational Therapy.

Writing my life story The Baby’s Cross was very rewarding for me.  The title of the book is a poem my Mom wrote about me. I never knew she had written more poems about me and her family and to my surprise “the blessed mother”. I also ended up publishing her poems. It was a great reward to get to know her through her poetry. I certainly have been blessed.

Who is one of the strongest women you know today and why?

One of the strongest women I know today would be Bonnie Kaye, she is a teacher, councilor, Author and Books of Excellence Talk Show Radio Host.  To me she is the dearest friend that anyone could have.  Bonnie is always willing to help to listen and to care. I have heard so many times you never meet friends you care about when you get older. That saying no longer dances in my head. Bonnie came into my life a few years ago I feel truly blessed to have met her she is a gift to so many. Bonnie never tires of helping authors and putting them in the right direction to a good publisher and new friends with her Books of Excellence website. She has had a lot of trials and adversity in her life and through this she gives HOPE to all she comes in contact with.

What is your advice to other women out there who are facing adversity on their own personal journey?

Each one of us finds our own way when facing adversity. Mine was my faith.  My advice would be to tap into your resources such as friends, family, faith and prayer. I myself have always gone to the water, like the ocean, lake or even a fountain in a park.  It has always given me a clearer vision of what I need to do. I also keep a journal and write whatever I need to work with, it helps me tremendously. Sometimes I discover the problem isn’t as big as I thought.

I always ask God’s guidance in prayer as it has been my comfort for years.  Never give up.

ET Grandma

Hugs & Kisses

Website

Author Book Signing Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXcdpFKcFSQ

Video about Lakeville Hospital:

C. Gale Perkins in Books of Excellence authors co-op

I got your back!

Picture of a soldier sleeping during an airport layover with his canine partner.  There is no measure of loyalty greater than that shown here. Sleep soundly soldier. A worthy goal in life is to be as good a person as your dog thinks you are..

CN Salutes Merchant Marine Gaylene Lukenbill

Gaylene & friend Glenda on The USNS Sacajawea I salute today a dear friend of many years Merchant Marine Gaylene Lukenbill. As a Merchant Marine Lukenbill works for Military Sealift Command who contracts for The Department of The Navy.  Though a Merchant Marine is not military, they provide a very important service to our military. Lukenbill is from Livingston Montana where she resides when she is not out to sea.

What are your duties?
MSC provides for Supply Department on ships. Supply Department does all the ordering for our ship or a specific fleet  which includes food, ammunition, medicine, parts and anything else that may be needed. Whatever the Navy needs while it’s at sea, we deliver. MSC does most of the housekeeping and the cooking while we are on board.

I work in the Ward Room which is the officer’s state and Officer’s mess, clean, serve meals. Then there are others who work in the Crews Nest and The Chief’s Nest.

MSC does all of the deck work. On some ships the supply department is responsible to do deck work as well. If we have to send supplies to another ship, we run out, hook up supplies to a Helo and they fly it and drop it off over to another ship. We also run lines from one ship to another and send supplies by hooking onto a zip line while the ships are steaming at same rate side by side. It must be precise.

MSC Captain, Mates, deck hands. We also employ a MSO, which is a Medical Service Operator and they are usually a retired Navy Corpsman. Big organization.

I was 61 when I started and it’s been a good job. I made $64,000.00 my first year and that was just cleaning. Hard work, but great opportunity. You work seven days a week when out to sea. 4 months on and one month off.

What was the training and prep for your MOS?
Literately 40 years in the food service industry. They also send all MSC personnel to Fire School in Earl New Jersey. We went for a month to learn basic skills in firefighting, ship board damage control and two day course in basic navigation skills. They teach you how the ship day to day operations run and the chain of command.  We also did Fall Pro, which is learning to climb in a climbing harness. There are a lot of ladders aboard a ship. We even learn to jump from ladder to ladder and then we also have to free fall in a harness.

What do you like most about serving?
The money, the fact I got to see the world and met people in different cultures I never would have gotten to meet in Montana. I got to see how they lived and hear their stories. That’s been really interesting. When you see the world you see how wonderful the United States is. America is such a great place.

What prompted you to serve?
I wasn’t looking for work, then one day I had lunch with my daughter, a chief in the Navy, on the Emory S Land  she was stationed on. I noticed all these older people who were working around there and I knew they weren’t military, so I asked my daughter, “Who are all the folks and what do they do here?” She told me they worked for Military Sealift Command and they hire civilians. I also wanted to serve my country somehow but never had the opportunity, so I filled out the application and got the necessary stuff together and that was in Nov and they hired me in May.  It really is a good way to serve your country.

What is some of the greatest challenges you faced?
Being the oldest for one. Younger people at times can be condescending. Sometimes it's hard overcoming preconceived ideas about older people being able to be hard workers. I’ve worked hard all of my life, I don’t know any other way.
Being away from home is challenging at times. Working with people who have bad work ethics.

What was the most rewarding experience?
I got a reward for doing deck work. It was a monetary award of $500 for my work on deck in the Gulf. Then having people say they don’t want me to go and they want me to stay on the ship. It’s an encouragement and uplifting.

How does serving affect your family? Do they find their part of service rewarding?
My kids are really proud of me and very supportive. Two of my children serve in the Navy and they said to me “Gee, Mom, by the time you are done you’ll have more time at sea than both of us put together.”

Do you plan on making a career of your service?
I am going to continue serving as a Merchant Marine until I am 66, then I’ll come home and draw social security and probably continue working at another job of some kind. I want to keep active and learning something new. It has been a great job that God has provided me.

What is your advice to someone thinking about serving their country?
Go for it. You have absolutely nothing to lose. If it’s not for you, it’s not for you, but you should always be up for trying something new. If you don’t try, that’s failing I think. If you do something and it doesn’t work out, there is nothing bad about that. It’s the not trying at all that is failing. Serve your country, it’s the only one you’ll ever have!

THANK YOU MERCHANT MARINE GAYLENE LUKENBILL FOR YOUR SERVICE!

CN Salutes Sergeant Bernard R. Skoff, World war Two Veteran

Sergeant Ben R. Scoff On November 19, 1944 General George C. Patton encircles 15,000 Germans in Metz, France when his 5th “Red Diamond” and 95th “Victory” Infantry Divisions join hands east of the city. This was one of the bloodiest and longest battles of World War II. Right alongside General Patton was his radio man, Sergeant Bernard R. Skoff.

Sergeant Bernard R. Skoff, from Joliet Illinois, was drafted into the Army in 1942-1944 serving for two years and three months. Skoff ended up being a part of history in those two years working closely with General Patton as Skoff served in the infamous 95th “Victory” Infantry Division.

What was your MOS and your training?
I spent 18 weeks at Camp Swift, Texas learning radio. I then went to Boston Harbor and was shipped out on the S.S. Mariposa and headed to Europe. The S.S. Mariposa was also the ship we came on when we came home, only we ported in San Francisco.
I became a Sergeant when a First Lieutenant said to me, “You’re a Sergeant.”  I asked, “Who is in charge?” He told me, “You are!” He gave me 100 men, who I broke into four groups of 25……. With that his military career began.

What were your duties?
I was in charge of all communication. It came to me first and I relayed it to the Commanding Officer. I usually had only about a 25 mile signal for my radio unless I put the antenna on top of the trees and then I got 50 miles.

What was it like working with General Patton?
We got along great. Since I was the only connect to the outside world, as the radio man, I was the one who said, “We have to move now”, or “We need to go here” because I heard all the orders first and then relayed them to Patton.  We spoke every day and that’s how we also became good buddies.

When we first got over there, there was some down time at first as we waited orders. Patton told me, “I don’t know when the baptism is coming but be ready at any minute.” Well, in war you never know what’s coming next and I received the radio call at three in the morning and we had baptism by fire!

From then on if we had a few minutes down time you’d find a tree and sit underneath it and try to get some sleep, but you had to sleep with one eye open.

Patton always used to say, “Don’t look back-follow your finger forward.” So that’s what we did.

Do you have pictures with Patton?
We were not allowed to take pictures of anyone in the field so the enemy wouldn’t know who to look for. There were some journalists given permission to come in on occasion, but they tried to control the flow of information.  I only have pictures from my boot camp days.

What were some of your experiences that stand out?
There was a plane that flew over, Plane #13 which kept shooting at us. I yelled up at him and threatened to take him down. I got him to put down his gun and put his hands up telling me he was surrendering. Before he could land, two other soldiers shot him down and killed him. I was so mad because I had already had him as a prisoner. I had the MPs arrest the two soldiers.

One thing we used to do was take over houses for shelter and food. I moved in with a French family. There was a mother, father, daughter, son and the mother’s brother who lived in the house. She made me Pumpernickel bread and it was so good. They also wanted me to marry their daughter, but I told them I was already married. It wasn’t true, but I didn’t want to marry their daughter. A lot of guys came home with wives from over there.

Another time our entire unit had to jump off a bridge. I couldn’t swim and I told them “I can’t do it, I can’t swim.” A Big Texan said, “You are going to sink or swim.” With that the Texan and a guy from Montana threw me over the side and into the river. The Montanan was close behind and he helped me float to the shore.

When I came home from the war and walked off the plank of the S.S. Mariposa, two girls saw there was no one there to meet me and they took me home to their families and their families welcomed me as part of their family for the four days I had to wait for the train home to Joliet, Illinois.

What was your most rewarding experience?
The whole way through to be honest with you. We all had each other’s back and we were always there for each other…like we were one. Rank didn’t matter because no one was ever better than anyone else.

What was your worst experience?
It was the several mile march we did in 17 below zero weather. I froze both my feet and my right foot still bothers me today. That march took 5 days.

Did you see any of the Concentration Camps?
That was the most sickening thing I ever saw. One of the camps we went through, had boxes about 4x4 square and the Germans would pull the Jews bodies up into the box and leave the heads hanging out. They piled the boxes on top of each other and you saw all these heads side by side, and on top of each other…thousands of them. We looked them over to make sure that none of them were still alive and suffering. There was so much worse than that that went on!

What advice do you have for someone who is thinking of serving?
Go along with the program. If you go along with the program you don’t have trouble, but if you don’t go with the program you have trouble.

The last radio call Skoff received was that Japan had surrendered. That’s where they were going next. Instead they got to go home.

THANK YOU SERGEANT BERNARD SKOFF FOR YOUR SERVICE!

Thanks to the Men and Women who stand watch this Christmas!

                   A Different Christmas Poem      The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,       I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.       My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
       My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
       Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
       Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
 
       The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
       Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
       My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
       Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
       In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
       So slumbered I, perhaps I started to dream.  
 
      The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
       But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
       Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
       Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
       My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
       And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
       Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
       A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.           
       A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
       Perhaps a Trooper, huddled here in the cold.      
       Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
       Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
      "What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
       "Come in this moment. It's freezing out here!
       Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
      You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
       For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
       Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
        To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
      Then he sighed and he said, "It's really all right,
       I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
 
       "It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
       That separates you from the darkest of times.
       No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
       I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
       My Gramps died in Europe on a day in December,"
       Then he said,"That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."  
       I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
       But my wife sends me pictures. He's sure got her smile.
      
       Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
       The red, white, and Blue American Flag.
       I can live through the cold and the being alone,
       Away from my family, my house and my home.
       I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
       I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
       I can carry the weight of killing another,
       Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.
       Who stand at the front against any and all,
       To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
       "So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
       Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
       "But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
      
      "Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
       It seems all too little for all that you've done,
       For being away from your wife and your son."
       Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
       "Just tell us you love us, and never forget. 
       To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
        To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
        For when we come home, either standing or dead,
       To know you remember we fought and we bled.
       Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
       That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

The Oath Taken by EVERY Solider

CHIEF PETTY OFFICER (SEAL) ROBERT F SULLIVAN, USN (RET) US NAVY SEAL TEAMS NAD DANANG VIETNAM SOG MACV 1964

Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Robert F Sullivan I had the pleasure of interviewing Chief Petty Officer Sullivan in May of 2012. I recently heard from him again and he gave me this article, first person account, written to be displayed in The Navy SEAL Museum in Florida.
My recent CN Salutes have touched on experiences during the Vietnam Conflict so when I read Sullivan's account I knew I had to share it.
This is Number Three in a Series of Articles of the Recollections of his Career in SEAL Team One by Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Robert F Sullivan USN (Retired) The 1st Vietnam OP34/ALPHA – VULCAN. The 2nd The CUBAN CRISIS 1962. In his own words.

My second tour of Vietnam was in 1964 at NAD (Naval Advisory Detachment) DaNang South Vietnam.

On January 24 President Lyndon Johnson signed OPLAND 34A that authorized US Personnel to assume the previous work of SOG CIA Vietnam under the new SOG MACV Commanded by General William Westmorland. With this directive the military takes over the counterinsurgency war, and I’m back in uniform in Vietnam. (In Cammies) NAD DaNang would be the US Navy’s headquarters of SOG MACV in its assisting the South Vietnam Government in resisting the war with North Vietnam by aggressive acts across the 17th parallel by Commandoes trained by US Navy SEALs.

The O in C of NAD was Navy LT Cathal (Irish) Flynn. With a platoon of 16 SEAL enlisted volunteers from SEAL Team One in Coronado CA. Lieutenant Flynn’s funny name was “Irish” The use of what we called “Funny name” was the name we used around the Vietnamese, so they had no knowledge of our real names. This was carried over from our CIA days. The name I used on my 1st tour in 1962 was “Mr. Bob”. It was the name our captured Frogs gave out to their captures at their trial as who their American trainer was and it was broadcast throughout Southeast Asia with a 10,000 piaster reward on it. My funny name for this tour was “Sully” The use of funny names remains with SEAL Teams to this day. It’s protection for the SEAL and his family because of the classified operations we so often are involved in.

We operated from an expanded site from where Don Raymond and I had set up training for operation Vulcan ( SOG OP34A ) in 1962. It was now a group of five separate training sites spread out along 4 or 5 miles of beach. The Headquarters was on the northern end of the beach, and that was where the SEAL advisors were housed. Each site was separated and segregated to keep the personnel from contact with each other for security reasons. Each site was designated for a specific mission. SEAL personal were assigned to train a particular group of agents for their mission and only that mission. Usually there were two SEALs assigned to each group, but in a few cases it took up to four. We had graduated from operating from Junks to “Swift Boats”, and then to the “Nasties” (Norwegian Attack Craft). This was a definite improvement in our speed and armament capability. All the boats were heavily armed.

Prior to our deployment, those of us scheduled for the January departure were assigned to a Berlitz type Vietnamese language class held on NAB Coronado. The instructor was a petite Vietnamese lady that was very well educated in French, English, and her native Vietnamese. The class had a directive written on the Blackboard that English will not be spoken inside the classroom while class is in session, and it wasn’t. Six hours a day for four weeks we struggled to speak, read, and write Vietnamese. We were later deflated in Vietnam when your first attempts to use the newly acquired skills were only understood by someone that had been in the class with you. Vietnamese like all Asian languages has many dialects and the language used by the people is nothing like the language taught in formally instructed University orientated classes. C’est La Vie!!

Since Don Raymond my partner on my first tour decided to leave the Navy for Commercial Diving, I was partnered up with a 1st class Bos’n mate named Ray Abreu. Ray came to the SEALs from four years in UDT- 11 and about four years of shipboard duty. Ray was what you would call a tough guy. He was a good athlete and hard as nails. We were going to get along fine, and pull off some good ops. Our group of agents came from the remaining Vietnamese trained in Taiwan for the Vietnamese UDT Team, but not chosen for the First “Vulcan” operation. There were twenty of them. There was also an interpreter in the group. He was a noncombatant and used only to explain our English to the group, and their Vietnamese to us. We held a short course with the group on what American Commands that they must know immediately without the need of an interpreter. We didn’t want the need for an interpreter if we were in the middle of a firefight.

Warriors of all ethnic backgrounds must learn to listen to the leader, and understand his direct commands or they won’t last very long.
Our agents were in good physical condition, so getting them into condition to operate was not a problem. We were training these guys for Commando type insertions into North Vietnam to destroy seaside Radar stations that tracked our shipping and aircraft and were used as a warning element to their approach into North Vietnam. There were numerous small mobile Radar and Surface to Air (SAM) missile sites tracking our Aircraft launched from Carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Because of the mountainous terrain of North Vietnam, the Seaside Radar sites picked up our aircraft flying even at low altitudes. Since small boat traffic was normal along the coast, our Swift Boats could get into IBS (Rubber Boat) launching range at night without trouble, and the Commando raids were successful in eliminating some of the sites and it reminded North Vietnam that we could cross their borders too. Small Electric power plants were also a seaside target. They use sea water to cool the oil burning generators used to power military sites, and some of more modern villages of North Vietnam. These sites were well camouflaged from air craft, and were not a high priority target during early bombing raids.
Besides the normal water skills that our Frogs must have, we’ve incorporated small arms and demolition use into their training. Skills in the 3.5 rocket launchers, 40 mm grenade weapons, and 60 mm machine guns were added to the M-16 (AR 15) general use military weapon.

An over the beach raiding party could consist of a Swift Boat, two rubber IBS’s ( Inflatable Boat Small )with crews of 7 men each, and 6 gunners manning the Swift Boats 50 cal machine guns and 81 mm Mortars, plus act as backups to the raiding crews. The Swift Boat had a Coxswain and an Engineer that were not part of the Vietnamese Agent group. The Coxswain and Engineer were leftover contract personal from the SOG CIA days. They were Scandinavian Merchant Seamen contracted by the CIA for their Navigational skills and used for their deniability of presence to the International Control Committee (They were not Americans if captured) they were training their replacements from the

Vietnamese Navy, because their contracts would end in December 1964. The CIA would always deny any American involvement in any covert clandestine operations, because that’s what the CIA always does. Just part of the job !!
The Swift boats were a giant leap from the days when motorized fishing Junks were used to land clandestine agents across the 17th pararell into North Vietnam. The speed and armament of the Swift boats would better match them with the Swatow Gun Boats the North used, and the Junks the Swift boats replaced. The Swift Boats were 50 ft in length, and powered with two V1271 GM diesel engines. (A Greyhound Bus is powered by a single 671 GM diesel engine) They had a range of 750 mi at 10 kts and a top speed of 32 kts. They could outrun a Swatow (28 kts) North Vietnams premier Gunboat. They had twin 50 cal machine guns mounted over the pilot house and a combination 50 cal machine gun and 81 mm Lanier fired mortar mounted on the stern. There was a 60 mm machine gun on the bow. They could carry 20 troops with a minimum crew of six. Two inflatable boats (IBS) could be launched from the stern area. The Boat had Radar for night operations, and fathometer for shallow water ops.

The typical op was to approach the target to within a few hundred yards at night, launch two IBS’s with 7 man raiding parties each to land on the beach as clandestine as possible. Destroy the target and egress by IBS to the Swift boat. The armament on the Swift boat can cover the egress and make the pickup in a relative manner close to shore. The Swift boat will use its speed and armaments as protection from Patrol boats. Being home ported in DaNang, the Swift boats have a possible range of 300 miles into North Vietnam. The loss of U S bombing aircraft by SAM missiles, from the Radar- SAM sites, made the sites prime targets for over the beach raids. The sites were generally mobile, but stationary at night. They were protected by armed militia from their immediate areas, with a few regular Army in supervision. The use of the militia as guards was proven to be a poor decision since many of them were asleep when a raiding party was coming ashore. To many of the local populations along the coast, their life was fishing, and the war was something happening far away. Time in the militia was something the government required along with their duty to make a living. It’s the Communist way of life. Militias were poorly trained and during some raids, they ran rather than engage while protecting their assigned station.

By March 1964 we had our troops ready for a real raid. We had been practicing on the other training sites with everything but live ammo. Ray and I felt confident in our Commandos. Then politics reared its ugly head. The powers that be decided that a Vietnamese Navy Lieutenant should command their first cross border operation. Not as a raiding party participant but in command from the Swift Boat. We were not to go because at this time the American involvement was still being denied. As our boss Irish Flynn said “Just say aye- aye, and pull the rope “ The raid was scheduled for a power station that was about 110 miles north of DaNang. The building had been well camouflaged but under the scrutiny from air photos the intake and return water lines from the ocean gave it away. The heated water from the return line was causing a stirred up area in the water where it returned it into the ocean. The water was crystal clear except for a spot directly off shore from one of the buildings built along the ocean side, and then fifty feet away from the same building a cable emerges from the ground and runs to a row of poles leading to the village. Two days later the Swift Boat returns and reports that the Raid had been aborted. The Vietnamese Navy Lieutenant had reasons for the abort that I was never privy to. Then through a conversation we had at a bar in DaNang over a few beers, the Coxswain of the boat said that in his opinion the Lieutenant “ Chickened Out” This was the same problem SOG Combined Studies had with agents scheduled for Air Inserts ( Parachuted ) back in 1962-63. This was cured when US Personnel were made Jumpmasters and the deniability clause was ignored. Don and I were involved on one of those missions in 1962.

This became a problem with Maritime operations, and the same cure was used, only without the knowledge of MACV until after President Johnson signed the Tonkin Gulf Initiative. Then the US Personal were legally released from the deniability restrictions. Our boss realized the problem was political from the get-go. We were not involved at our level but there was a constant turmoil in the upper levels at the United States and the Vietnamese Headquarters.

To shove an untrained Officer into the command of the type of warriors that we trained was asinine. Shipboard officers have no experience in commando type operations. The Lieutenant remained with our Commando Team, but after some heated discussions between his superiors and our superiors, he was made a liaison officer. True to the French influence on the Vietnamese Navy, The Lieutenant would not live with his assigned team, but lived in quarters for other Vietnamese officers set aside in our compound ( Trainees to operate the Swift Boats and Nasties ) SEAL Team officers always lived with their platoons while in Vietnam. The only time they stayed in separate quarters was aboard US Naval Vessels, and on US Military Bases.

We went on to have several what we called successful operations with Ray and I running the show. Since Ray and I did not go ashore with the raiding parties, our best assessment was when the demolitions that were planted went off “High Order” and our personnel returned to the boat. We did have several casualties and two KIA, but none were left behind. On several trips we were fired on by North Vietnam patrol boats that we assumed were Swatows. They gave up the chase shortly after we returned fire so we don’t know if we scored some hits or we were just too fast for them. We were not foolish enough to continue to engage an unknown vessel because if it was a Swatow, we would have been severely outgunned. On the plans made up by the high paid plan makers, each site was to be bombed immediately following a raid, supposedly when it was without defenses. That old deniability crap went out the window when we wanted to be sure of getting a job done. (I’m sure I got some good licks in with our 50 calibers) We used API Ammo (Armor Piercing Incendiaries) and at night you can really light up a target.

The North Vietnamese did not broadcast their losses, so our successes were often conjectured. Then again we were far down the information system, what we did hear was not taken as gospel since too much of the news was exaggerated to inflate moral of our troops. All I know for sure is that we were part of a mission that was awarded the “Presidential Unit Citation” the country’s highest award for combat and second only to the “Congressional Medal of Honor”.

I returned home a month before the other members of our deployment to bury my Mother who succumbed to cancer. Not a very happy homecoming.
There are a few things that stand out about my second tour that are vivid after all these years. One was the futility of trying to learn the Vietnamese language by someone out of touch with the people’s language that we would use.
I’m daily reminded of a gash to my scalp by the scar on my bald dome when I look in a mirror. It happened while we were on a training run on a practice beach. The Swift boat ran aground on a submerged sandbar while making a high speed turn in shallow water. The stop was so abrupt that I was thrown into the overhead of the pilot house. When I returned to the Compound Doc Williams our corpsman sewed me up with baseball stiches and a can of spray that freezes the area long enough that you don’t feel pain but you grit your teeth on each pull of the needle as he weaves his stiches into your bare head. I was O.K. the next day, but you really bleed when you receive a wound to your head. Since it was not inflicted by a hostile act, “NO PURPLE HEART”! I’ve since heard of a LTJG that received three “P.H”s in the span of three months from scratches he got while crewing on Swift Boats ( No gunshots ), and he took advantage of the trip home rule if you receive three “P.H”s during a cruise to VN. He also received a “Silver Star” and “Bonze Star” and all this with less than four months’ time spent in country. I heard where he went on to bigger and better things in our government. He became a Senator, and almost our President. AH! The things that get arranged at the Officers Clubs.

Another bloody evening I remember was when we thought the V. C. were testing out the integrity of the farthest camp south on our beach. The individual sites maintained their own security and made up their own guard assignments. Each site usually kept two guards on duty every night rotating the assignments every two hours. This particular site was the largest of the five sites, and had a group of about 30 Chinese Nungs in training. The Nungs are an ethnic group that live in Vietnam, but immigrated from mainland China after WW ll. They fought on the side of the French during the war with the Viet Minh 1946-54 ( Indochina War ) where they were considered mercenaries. Their language is a mixture of Chinese and Thai. We used Nungs to act as our security at the Main Compound where we lived. Many of the Special Forces Compounds throughout Vietnam used Nungs as security. The number one reason was that the VC had not infiltrated their communities like they had the Vietnamese . Nungs were known for their integrity to whoever paid them, and in Vietnam that was the U.S.

Throughout Vietnam the VC would probe military compounds at night to get an idea if the site had security. If the security was lax or nonexistence they would do a ”Snatch and Grab” of equipment and supplies, or just cause some harassment to provoke and frighten the occupants. In some cases the whole area would be overrun if the resistance to a probe was low. This happened to a Special forces camp in our general area when Don Raymond and I were training our “Vulcan” crew here in 1962.

This night the VC picked the wrong site to see if the troops would panic under attack. Some of the Nungs at that site were previously signed up to work for SOGCIA, and were former mercenaries for the French in the war with the Viet Minh. Now they were working for SOGMACV but being paid by the CIA ( Known as Combined Studies because the term CIA was not supposed to be used ), these Nungs were tough cookies, and experienced fighters.

The main compound was hooked up to each site by radio, phone line, plus each site had very pistols to fire colored flares in case of an attack or to light up the perimeter to make it a killing field. White flares were used periodically by site security to check the area surrounding the site. A series of red flares was a call for help, that the site was being probed or under attack.

Each Training site had at least two vehicles. A Jeep, and a duce and a half truck for hauling personnel and equipment to the piers used by the Swift Boats and Nasties, plus for other uses. Ray and I were assigned a jeep our for work and personal use, this made us very independent.

The night the VC probed training site 5 #, we were hanging out in the main compound having a few at our Lounge/ Meeting Room which was SOP when not out on a operation, training, or in DaNang. The main camp had two guard towers manned by Nungs, and just before midnight they were shouting about the Red

Flares going off down the beach. There were 8 to 10 SEALs in the compound at the time and all but the duty man loaded up our vehicles and went roaring down the beach. Ray and I were in the 1st jeep heading towards site number 5 #. We each had an AR 15 with a lot of ammo. Our own site was number 4 # and as we passed it on the way to 5 # we saw our guys were manning their sandbagged fighting holes. The Nungs of 5 # were in their fighting holes, and firing into the expanse of no man’s land to the south of the site. Not a steady fire on full automatic, but periodically from different places on the line as they were trained to do. The incoming fire ceased soon after we arrived so we surmised that it was only a probe. There were two casualties, one being the “No 1” man among the Nungs ( The Leader ) He had been shot through the neck, and bleed to death in a manner of minutes. The other Nung had a head wound and would survive. Both had been in a guard tower which gave us to think that they were shot by a Sharpshooter (Sniper) since theirs were the first shots fired. There was other incoming fire from the area to the south of the site, but none of it hitting anyone. The leader was probably checking up on the guard, or checking with him on something the guard had seen or heard from the tower, this being the reason why there were the two of them in the tower.

The sites would stay on the alert throughout the night, and in the AM there would be a group of anxious Nungs and SEALs ready to go south for VC hunting. It was common practice for the VC to collect their casualties and slip back into the hinterland, but an inspection of the area could tell us the approximate size of the attacking party, and maybe this time they might of left some dead behind. None were left behind, but by the appearance of the area directly south of the training site, there had been possibly 20 VC’s in the probe.

The tracks in the sand ( this was all beach area ), and the spent cartridges gave us a fair guess at the size of the VC group. There were trails of blood so the Nungs got in some possible kills in the firefight. The area for the training sites and south of the training sites for 7-8 miles to the huge bump called “Marble Mountains” is a strip of beach and sand dunes continuing inland from the beach ¾ of a mile to a river. Just before the “Marble Mountains” the river bends inland and goes off into strictly VC country all the way to the Laos border.

Our Nungs wanted to hunt down the VC responsible for the death of their Leader, but calmer heads prevailed. Mixing it up with the VC were not what these guys were being trained to do, so it was turned over to the “I Corp” The Headquarters of ARVN ( Vietnamese Army ), and it caused our security to be ramped up a little, for one thing SEALs started taking a weapon with them when they were in the lounge/meeting room. We had to rush back to our barracks for weapons before our charge off to do battle with the VC when 5 # site was probed. The word came down that ARVN had found no VC in their search south to the Mable Mountains. My guess is that ARVN didn’t get off the road in their search. In 1964 before US advisors were stationed with the ARVN units, they didn’t go looking for a fight with the VC. A year later after my return to CONNUS, Special Forces ( Green Berets ) found a complete VC strong hold dug into a maze of tunnels at the Marble Mountains.

There are five large out cropping’s that in the Vietnamese language translates to “Mountains made from Marble” They estimated there was a Battalion of hardcore VC involved. They even had a hospital. It was realized through interrogation of prisoners that the place had been there from the days of the French occupation, and had been a place used by the Viet Minh against the French. It took The US Marines that made their first landing in Vietnam just south of the NAD training sites in 1965 to take over the Marble Mountain encampment. This was after they were under daily harassment from VC’s mortars after building a helicopter air field south of DaNang. We might of lost a some of our Nungs if we would of let them chase the VC any farther than they did the day after the probe of site 5 # because the marines lost about a dozen troops, but they killed a sizable number, but since the VC collect their casualties, they didn’t have a count. With the exception of a few prisoners, the VCs from Marble Mountains disappeared into the countryside.

This gave me some after thoughts because as Don Raymond and I were training our Four Frogs for the Limpet attack on the Swatow Gunboats in 1962, we were within a few miles of Marble Mountains. In those days we were the only ones training on this whole beach (My Kye ), and they must of known of our existence.

The SEALs expanded My Kye into five sites and a headquarters compound with the transfer to SOGMACV from SOGCIA (Combined Studies) in 1963.
It was probably the same VC’s that attacked the Special Forces camp at Hoa Com and killed our drinking buddies Spec Gabriel, Sgt Marchand, and captured Sgts Quinn, and Groom that they released on May 1st 1962 as a propaganda move while negotiating for the release from prison of high priced VC officials. Remember in 1962 the war was still in the shouting and clandestine stages.
Note; After the NAD sites were abandoned in 1968, the Headquarters area became “China Beach”, a recreational area for US service personnel. (This was made into a TV series for stateside showing)

On my return to Coronado in 1964, and after the death of my Mother, I was engaged with the training of new transplants to SEAL One from the UDT‘s to ready them for deployment to Vietnam. SEAL Team One was expanding its number of personnel.

We had to wait while new replacements graduated from UDT replacement training and they were then simulated into the UDTs. We got the more experienced Frogs, because to become a SEAL required far more experience to qualify than the replacement course did for the UDTs. By 1964-65 all SEALs were Parachute qualified, proficient in small arms, trained in small unit tactics ashore, Submarine escape trunk training, and knowledge of counter insurgency warfare. In the beginning of the SEAL teams, all personnel were required to have two years of service in UDT. Due to the changing times that requirement started to be relaxed.

SEAL detachments were now operating in the lower Mekong Delta, the Run Sat’ Special Zone, and they continued with the Biet’Hai. The Run Sat’ and Mekong Delta ops were without Vietnamese Forces. Some ops were made with the Riverine Boat Units, plus we had our own boats. Others were done largely from Helo insertions, and extractions. (The Sea Wolves) Operating with the Viet’s was compromised too often by intelligence leaks, so the SEALs stayed away from operating with any more than a single Viet interpreter. From a large number of successful ambushes and sweeps in the Rung’Sat and Mekong Delta, SEALs had built a reputation with the VC as warriors they should stay away from.
Later when they started the PRU’s of the Phoenix Program they would get the biggest, meanest Nung and put him in charge of security. That usually took care of any VC’s that had infiltrated the unit.

In 1965 I was given an operation to rescue two Nationalist Chinese Air Force Pilots that were on Hainan Mainland China (An Island in the Tonkin Gulf) this would be done from a US Navy Submarine, and it will be my next memoir.

On April 4, 2001 SOG awarded Chief Petty Officer Robert Sullivan with Presidential Unit Citation for his service SOG MACV Da Nang Vietnam.

THANK YOU CHIEF PETTY OFFICER SULLIVAN FOR YOUR SERVICE!

CN Salutes Chief Warrant Officer-2 Marc P. Yablonka

CWO-2 Marc Philip Yablonka Recently I had the pleasure of co-hosting a radio show with Bonnie Kay of Books of Excellence. We interviewed  Marc Philip Yablonka who wrote Distant War, Recollections of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
Yablonka served with the California State Military Reserve, a support brigade to the California National Guard and U.S. Army Reserves between 2001 and 2008 and it's an honor for me to salute his service. .

What was your MOS?
My duty station was the Joint Forces Training Base at Los Alamitos, CA, though I also traveled to several National Guard armories in my capacity as a 46-Quebec (military journalist). When I entered the unit, I was an E-5 (sergeant). When I left the unit, basically to write my book "Distant War: Recollections of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia," I mustered out as a CWO-2 (Chief Warrant Officer-2),

What was the training and prep for your MOS?
Online coursework from DINFOS, the Defense Information School, now at Ft. Meade, MD. In addition, I graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Public Affairs "C" Course up at Coast Guard Island, CA. I also completed all three phases of Warrant Officer School at Camp San Luis Obispo, CA and Fort B.T. Collins, Sacramento, CA.

What were/are your duties?
My duties were to write stories and take photographs in support of our troops    mobilizing for and demobilizing from Iraq and Afghanistan. My stories and photos ran in publications such as American Veteran (quarterly of the AMVETS organization), Soldiers (the official magazine of the U.S. Army), The Grizzly (magazine of the California National Guard), The Blade (official publication of the 63rd Regional Readiness Command, U.S. Army Reserves), Hawaii Army Weekly (newspaper of the 25th Infantry Division) and others.

What did you like most about serving?
The fact that I was able to tell the Army's story in a positive light. Also the fact that I was able to right a wrong because I had not served when I should have during the Vietnam War. It was also great to be in a unit that was comprised of many Vietnam veterans who were still compelled to wear our country's uniform so many years after their service in Vietnam because I have long admired and respected them for doing what I should have done in the late 1960s.

What prompted you to serve?
Two numbers: 9-11. I had spent years feeling an emptiness inside as an American because I had not worn our country's uniform. After 9-11, a friend who was an Army veteran and who had been a photojournalist in Vietnam, called me up and told me that his unit (the above-mentioned California State Military Reserve) needed public affairs officers. I was incredulous at the time because I was then 50 years old. My friend told me that age was not a factor in that unit. So I signed up!

What was some of the greatest challenges you faced?
Learning Army parlance and figuring out whom to salute and whom not to! LOL

What was the most rewarding experience?
Telling the Army's story and getting it right. The funnest experience I had was the several rides I had in helicopters--chiefly Blackhawks--on local National Guard missions I was tasked with.

How did serving affect your family? Did they find their part of service rewarding?
I think my family was basically proud of me. My father is a World War II veteran of the Army Air Corps (he was a radio man on Saipan in the South Pacific), who later went on to a Cold War career in aeronautics, so he was especially proud at the time.

What opportunities or advantages or disadvantages did you have after reentering civilian life?
I never left civilian life when I served in the California State Military Reserve. While I did get tasked with state active duty a number of times, I was never deployed overseas and was able to continue my dual careers as an educator and military journalist. Because I was never federalized. I supported the Army Guard and Reserves in what I did. I was a member of a "State Defense Force" (SDFs number into the high 30s in throughout the country), not the Army itself. My Commanders-in-Chief during the time I served were Govs. Grey Davis and Arnold Schwarzeneggar rather than President Bush. Because I had no prior military service before joining the CA SMR, I do not qualify for veterans benefits.

What is your advice to someone thinking about serving their country?
I want to say, "Do it." The benefits you will reap both during and after your service will mean so much to you. At the same time, I'm fully aware that advice coming from a person like me who was never deployed, and while I have written, both in and out of uniform,  about wars and warriors, have never served directly in harm's way, may sound hollow. I only wish someone had been there for me to give me this advice in 1968 when I graduated from high school. I'm not ashamed of the path I followed (to university and a career as a teacher), but I just wish I had been able to add the word "Soldier" to my resume many years before I did!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!
DISTANT WAR by Marc Philip Yablonka DISTANT WAR
A freelance journalist’s observations and recollections of Southeast Asia, in the decades following the Vietnam War.  Part exploratory journalism and part unofficial history, Distant War combines photographs, interviews, and personal insights from people on both sides of the conflict to reveal a side of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia that few Americans have ever seen.  Marc Yablonka pulls back the curtain on a region struggling to understand its past and determine the course of its future.


"I didn't know how little I knew about this period of time until I picked up this book. I highly recommend everyone to read Distant War. It truly gives a rare look into the heroes that served in a war few ever really understood." - CN Bring