As If It Were Yesterday!
On the outbreak of the Tet Offensive, one Navy Boat Captain recalls those events that transpired during the first two days in a Saigon suburb. Read his story here:
By Ken Delfino
WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP! The sound of distant explosions interrupted the reverie of my dreams…BLANG! Boy, that one was closer! WHUMP! BOOOM!!!
“Delfino, wake up! Delfino, get the hell up!”
Who is this yelling at me I wondered as I groggily tried to wake… it’s just another mortar attack and…WHUMP! BOOM! BOOM! B-r-a-a-a-a-a-k! B-r-a-a-a-a-k! The staccato of semi and fully-automatic weapon fire shook the cobwebs out of my brain as I realized this was not our normal monthly visit by “Five-Round Charlie.”
It was around 0430 on January 31, 1968, in My Tho (me taw), the capital of Dinh Tuong Province, about 45 miles south of Saigon. My Tho was the headquarters of the United States Navy’s River Squadron 53, comprised of patrol boats (PBRs) of River Divisions 531, 532, and 533 and a SEAL team. It also served as headquarters for the Vietnamese Army’s 32nd Ranger Battalion and 7th Army Division.
Two of the three river patrol divisions were stationed in the town and rotated with the third off an LST (WWII Landing Ship, Tank) at the mouth of the Ham Luong or Co Chien Rivers. I was a crewmember of PBR 152, River Division 533, and we were on our “in-town” rotation this month. Each crew of four was housed in a room in a requisitioned hotel renamed Carter Billet, and we were a block east of some of the 7th ARVN HDQ buildings. Around the corner and across the street on Avenue Le Loi was the Khach-San Victory (Victory Hotel) Our squadron headquarters and officer country were housed there. From there, it was eight blocks south on Le Loi to the piers where our boats were. When mortars started falling, the ‘off-duty’ crews scrambled to the docks to disperse the boats until the attack ended.
On the evening of January 30, some fellow sailors and I visited the Philippine Civic Action Group (PHILCAG) villa. This was a medical detachment assigned to the province hospital in My Tho. I had met them earlier in the year, and we had received occasional invitations to come over for some ‘home-cooking’ of tasty Filipino dishes…and hard-to-come-by San Miguel beer!
When mortar attacks began, the Filipinos had their own procedures: the “duty half” of the team got dressed and rushed down to the hospital to await civilian casualties. Their villa was about half a mile from our headquarters at an intersection we called “The Y.” It was the entrance to My Tho on the main highway from Saigon.
With January 30 being the evening of the Lunar (Tet) New Year in South Vietnam, there were several Vietnamese among the guests that evening. The party continued until several of us were reminded we had patrols and other assignments the following day. We wished each other “Cung chuc may man” (Happy New Year) and returned to our bases. I had several San Miguel beers and had forgotten that since I had cut back on my drinking while in-country, it didn’t take as many to put me under!
As my boat captain, BM1 Jim Hicken, and fellow crewmates tried to raise me from the stupor, they gave up and placed the other three mattresses against my bunk between the street and me. Then, they took off to get 152 underway.
WHUMP! WHUMP!…. ah, it’ll stop, I thought…. KABAAAAM!!!!!!… The building shook…crap was flying all over the place. That, along with the close sounds of automatic weapons, immediately woke me! I dressed quickly; flak jacket…helmet, or beret??? I chose my black beret for quicker recognition by our guys, grabbed my M-14 and extra magazines, and bolted outside. It was still dark…I yelled up at the sentry on the roof of our building to call over to the Victory to let him know I was coming. There was no response…it wasn’t until later that day that I heard that the water tank on top of our building had taken a direct hit, and the sentry was not up there.
GMG2 Glen “Slayer” Slay’s recollection of that morning was the water cascading down in front of his glassless window and chunks of debris. He saw what was happening and found a very shaken sentry. He grabbed his gear and went to the docks to get his boat underway. They cleared the docks just as a mortar hit the dock itself!
I ran to the corner of our alley and Le Loi and took two steps into the street before I heard the unmistakable sound of a .50 caliber machine gun being loaded! I ducked back and yelled, “Delfino, coming over!”…the response was, “Who won the Series?” to which I responded, “St. Louis!” and I was cleared to cross the street and enter the Victory grounds. I went to the galley, got a cup of coffee, filled my pockets with chow, and tried to find out what was happening.
The TOC was a beehive of activity as report after report came in about attacks on all province capitals, Saigon, nearby towns of Ben Tre, and another squadron base at Vinh Long. After looking at the markings of activity on the map around the city, the first thing I needed to get was more ammo! We had a shuttle that went between the TOC and the base, and after finding the driver, I jumped in, and we took off.
While passing the second intersection, we took fire from the west, and I wondered if it was nervous Viets or VC? It was still too dark to tell foes from nervous friendlies. We made it to the base, and I stocked up on more ammo and wondered what I would do. All the boats had been deployed, and extra base personnel jumped at the opportunity to fill in a spot…as someone had filled mine on 152.
The driver was GMG3 Jose Garza, another 533 guy ordered to serve as the shuttle driver until relieved. Our adrenaline was pumping, and here we were, two sailors who were like ducks out of water! A call came in for the shuttle, and Jose had to return. I told him to wait and went back into the armory. I knew there was an M-3 “Burp Gun,” and if I was going to be Jose’s shotgun driver, I wanted a weapon that was easy to use in a vehicle and had knockdown power. I grabbed the M-3 and the five magazines. I also grabbed a blooker (an M-79 grenade launcher) and a belt of 25 grenades…just in case.
We returned to the hotel to pick up the passengers, and the city was lit by dawn. The gunfire was very heavy and too close for comfort. We knew the ARVN had set up a tank perimeter but did not know how far from the base. I stayed with Jose, and at around 1000 hrs., I asked him to go to the hospital to check on the PHILCAG team.
We arrived, and I spotted MAJ Manason, the senior officer. I asked how the team was doing, and he told me that the off-duty team was trapped in their quarters! Jose and I returned to the TOC and found CDR Sam Steed, the squadron commander and ranking officer. He had been to the villa several times, and when I told him I wanted to get some volunteers to get the team out, he said, “DO IT WITH WHATEVER YOU NEED!.” With his support, we returned to the base to round up a couple more guys. Two sailors were available, fellow 533 sailor GMG2 Rich Wies and base armorer GMG3 Dennis Keefe. “I have a mission, and we need some support,” I started. Halfway through my explanation, Rich and Dennis turned around, picked out the weapons they wanted, and stuffed their pockets with ammo…Dennis took an M-16, and Rich picked a Winchester Pump. We piled into the shuttle truck and headed back up Le Loi. Just past Carter Billet, we turned left and headed two blocks.
Later, we were in front of a large school that no longer had a roof and whose façade was pockmarked with bullet holes punctuated by black-rimmed holes from cannon fire. At the end of the street, we had to make a right and go two blocks to the team’s quarters.
The ARVN tanks were parked, engines running, and I asked for the senior ARVN officer. I told him in Vietnamese about the Filipino medical team and asked him to move his tanks to give us cover fire if we got in trouble. “NO, I CAN’T!” He did not want to jeopardize his tanks for an impromptu mission! We were on our own!
Wanting a quick egress, Jose turned the truck around and backed it down the street toward the “Y” as Keefe, Wies, and I hugged the buildings. Bodies and debris were everywhere… on the roads, sidewalks, and blasted buildings. We passed the first block and hoped the ARVN officer had let the other roadblock know we would be crossing. We took no fire from the street.
We proceed…one more block to the “Y” and the villa. Wies was on point, and Keefe covered the intersection ahead of time. We reached the walls of the villa compound, and I immediately went for the bomb shelter only to find it full of Vietnamese civilians!!! Had the team gotten out? The door was closed, so maybe they were still inside.
I tapped on the front window rather than take a chance that rounds would be fired through the door if I knocked on the front door. I tapped and yelled, “Myrna! Myrna!” trying to get a response from LT. Myrna Milan. Three shots rang out. I ducked and turned to see Wies’ shotgun barrel smoking…it was aimed at upstairs windows across the street…” Just keeping ’em honest and their heads down!” he yelled.
“I got you covered”…I banged on the window again, yelled Myrna’s name much louder, and saw the curtain move and her face appear in the window.
“Let’s go! We’re getting you guys out of here now!” She disappeared, and in less than a minute, the front door opened, and she, CAPT Leonora Gumayagay, and a sergeant appeared. We escorted them around the corner, loaded them into the truck, and took off for the hospital.
When we arrived, they were aghast to find that another sergeant was missing! He had gone back upstairs to destroy the radio so it couldn’t be used in a counterattack, so we had to go back to get him!
Garza, Keefe, Wies, and I looked at each other…nothing was said, and we all piled back into the truck and headed back. Once again, the ARVN officer would not move a tank, but this time, he did have a fire team cover us to the next intersection…but not all the way to the” Y.”
On this trip, I took a closer look at some of the VC bodies and noticed a couple that were much larger and did not have the harsher VC features…I deducted they may have been Chinese. They were all wearing black and had blue armbands. The stench of burning flesh was overpowering and something one doesn’t forget.
My memory’s a bit fuzzy here, but SGT Salvador was the commo man, and he was very relieved and grateful that we came back to get him. We got him out and back to the hospital. We were happy that not one of the team members was lost.
After grabbing some chow and water, we decided we needed another vehicle to patrol the inner perimeter in two vehicles. We found a blue jeep with USAID markings sitting unattended. Someone hot-wired it, and it returned to the base, where a coat of OD green was applied, and a mount for an M-60 was added. Navy markings were added, and we were set.
Around 1500, we were in the vicinity of the soccer field, which was across the street from the previously mentioned school. Adjacent to the field were two Army jeeps with one US WIA. They were waiting for a DUST-OFF to come and pick him up. There was a helo pad on the west side of town, but units of the 9th Infantry Division had not yet cleared out the VC that had taken over that area.
We decided to take a break and wait to see the Medevac. As the helo was flaring out to land, the window in the announcer’s booth across the field suddenly flung open. Not knowing if a VC was in there with a B-40 rocket, we immediately took the booth under fire…the army sergeant waved off the chopper, and they took off.
We escorted the soldiers down to the docks and called in a PBR to take him to the Army hospital at Dong Tam, just five miles east of us. VC still had the road cut off to Dong Tam.
I returned to the TOC and gave CDR Steed and my XO, LT Bob Moir an update on the Filipinos. After hearing the report, CDR Steed told me to invite them to stay at the TOC so they’d at least have some military protection instead of the hospital where there was none. Officers doubled up in their quarters and bunked in rooms whose crews were on patrol.
It wasn’t until around 1600 that I returned to my room and noticed a massive hole in the street in front of the Carter. This round had hit and jarred me out of my stupor. We had a deuce-and-a-half stake truck parked across the street, and the entire side was shrapnel…as well as the wall protecting the first floor…MY FLOOR of the billet!
As darkness started to fall, we learned more about what had happened. It was a guess that up to three battalions of Viet Cong had hit the town (later determined to be accurate). Still, it was repulsed by an immediate counterattack by the 7th ARVN on the north and west, the 32nd Rangers on the east, and our SEAL team wandering through town doing what they had to do to help stem the attack. The 9th Infantry counterattacked from the west toward the ARVN positions, but that five-mile area was to be contested for a few more days. The immediate threat to the city’s heart (7th ARVN HDQ and our TOC) had been stopped. Still, we all were anticipating a counterattack when darkness fell. The daylight revealed several buildings with holes in their roofs where mortars had hit.
After picking up the Filipinos and settling them at the TOC, we decided not to stay in the Carter. Instead, we picked a building across the street from the TOC that gave us a decent field of fire over the western approach to the TOC, which was a block away. We supplied ourselves with water, food, and plenty of ammo and grenades and settled in for the night.
Though night had fallen, the battle raged on. Twinkling lights in the sky indicated either helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. Several times, green tracers of the enemy would reach for the lights only to receive a return of thousands of rounds from a Spooky gunship. Artillery rounds from Dong Tam landed only a few miles away as they supported operations in progress. Gunfire could be heard in the streets, but beyond the perimeters set up by the Vietnamese.
I started dozing off into that mode known as ‘combat sleep’. Your body is relaxed, but your mind can separate imminent from possible threats. You aren’t really asleep, but you can recharge.
When morning came, battles were still raging nearby, but the offense had been pushed beyond mortar range of us. A LOT of credit goes to SEAL Team 2 and the Vietnamese 32nd Ranger Battalion, whose immediate reactions helped protect the base and keep the VC away from our HDQ until the 7th ARVN was able to set up their perimeter.
Ken Delfino Crewmember PBR 152;
Boat Captain, PBR 151
River Division 533, RIVRON 5 TF-116 9/66-7/68
Epilogue
That morning…that day…that week will live with me forever. I’ve always wondered what happened to my Filipino friends and my “team”…those guys who did not hesitate to step forward. Since 2002, I have had the opportunity to meet up with Jose, Rich, and Dennis. A few years ago, with tremendous help from the former PHILCAG Chief of Staff, I received a letter verifying the mission from COL Myrna Milan Delena, Philippine Army (RET). Through her, I discovered that COL Leonora Gumayagay is in Las Vegas and COL Estela Casuga is in Daly City…where I went to elementary school and lived after returning from Viet Nam and until the late ‘70s. I spoke with Nora (we called her Mom), and I will attempt to contact Estela.
People have told me I should write a book, but I don’t know if I’d enjoy it — let alone have it sell! I greatly thank President Fidel Ramos, GEN Jose Magno, Jr., and Ms. Stella Marie J. Braganza, who helped me locate members of the Dinh Tuong team.
So this small segment of my life is dedicated to my brothers-in-arms with whom I patrolled the Long Tau, Soi Rap, Co Chien, My Tho, and Ham Luong Rivers for 22 months…to my young friends at Millbrook High School in Raleigh, NC (Kim, Sara, Kevin, Chris, Courtney, John, Caitlin, Lauren, Megan, Gessica, Nikki and Alicia) who have been able to pull forgotten memories out of the recesses of my mind…to Dr. Lindy Poling, who created the Lessons of Vietnam class at Millbrook…to Ralph Christopher, who told our MyTho story in his book “Duty…Honor…Sacrifice”…to Rich, Jose, Dennis (RIP), and the members of the Dinh Tuong PHILCAG Medical team for a bond that will never be broken…and to my wife Melba, who stood by my side and understood the frustration, anger, and need for revenge that raged through the core of my body and mind after the September 11, 2001 attacks by those Muslim extremist murderers.
This story was written for you…just as it was…. as if it were yesterday!
*****
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