Brown Water, Black Berets Quotes

“They stand out in the open sometimes during firefights so they can see where to direct the fire. They maintain their cool no matter how bad things get. A few months back, in the middle of a firefight, a shell landed right on deck without exploding. Lieutenant Meyerkord looked down at it, kicked it over the side,”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“But Junk Division 37 here has fifty-one miles of coastline to patrol. Of that, approximately twelve miles are considered VC-controlled and are therefore free-fire areas.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“He moved a lever and the weapon broke open like a shotgun. Jim inserted a fat-looking cartridge, closed the weapon, snapped on the safety, and glanced over at Dickey. Noting the puzzlement on her face, he said “This is one of our newest weapons. It’s called an M-79 grenade-launcher.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“There’s some argument as to how much the North Vietnamese are using the coastal waters to infiltrate and send supplies. Some think a lot, others think very little, but few disagree that the Junk Force is a deterrent. I personally think that because of these junk patrols, the North Vietnamese are sending very little in this way. I think there’s a lot coming in down through the jungles and across the Laotian and Cambodian borders, though.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“Dickey pulled a notepad from an olive-drab bag. “I see you’re wearing the black ‘pajamas’ I keep hearing about. Back in Saigon they call you all ‘the black-pajama navy.’ Is that the uniform of the Junk Force?” “No, not really.” Jim ran his hand against the grain of his crew-cut. “This organization is not really part of the Vietnamese armed forces—although there’s a move on right now to assimilate it into the Navy. Because it started out as paramilitary, there were no uniforms, just black berets. These ‘pajamas’ are the typical peasant garb of Vietnam, so that’s why you see a lot of the Junk Force sailors wearing them. They’re both inexpensive and functional.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“There is a kind of Vietnamese commando group attached to the Junk Force called Biet Hai who specialize in raids ashore, to keep the local VC off balance,” Jim continued. “But the main mission of the Junk Force is coastal patrol—stopping the flow of supplies from North Vietnam and interdicting the movement of VC cadre.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“junkies’ conducted raids on shore too. Is that true?” “Sure, a lot of those stories are true. We have to make land raids for security reasons. A lot of the bases are what you might call ‘behind enemy lines.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“They may not seem too formidable, but they’re not very conspicuous out there among all the fishing junks and they’re able to get in close to the coast if they need to. Some of the junks in other coastal districts only have sails, but ours all have engines. The junk division’s main job is to patrol the coastal waters and rivermouths checking traffic to be sure it’s not serving the Viet Cong.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“I know,” Dickey said, again in the too-loud voice. “You want to know what a woman is doing here in the Mekong Delta dressed like G.I. Joe.” She pushed the plastic-framed glasses back up her nose with her index finger. “I’m a correspondent, and I don’t believe you can write a good front-line story by reading official government handouts.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“December was always hot in the tiny village of Tiem Ton, near the mouth of the Ham Luong River, sixty miles south of Saigon.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“On his map, one pin stuck in an island off the coast near the Cambodian border represented Lieutenant Wes Hoch, one of the more colorful advisors.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“Because these dedicated men often neglected their health in their quest for achievement, they were all encouraged and occasionally ordered to go back to Saigon for a breather and for much-needed medical attention. The primitive living conditions with few of the conveniences that most Americans take for granted, such as running water and sewage disposal, resulted in cases of tapeworms, diarrhea, dengue fever, or other maladies.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“The Vietnamese found it difficult to take seriously the advisors who were constantly coming and going: some of the Vietnamese Navy men had been at their jobs for a decade, while the Americans were typically there to advise for only a year. The resulting pressures could be exacerbated by an advisor whose impatience to see tangible results caused resentment among the Vietnamese.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“Brown-water warfare” had been used time and again, but on every occasion, once the necessity had passed, these capabilities were shelved and the Navy returned to “blue-water” operations.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“A study of American naval history would tell that there was certainly plenty of precedent—coastal and riverine warfare had played significant roles in the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Seminole and Creek Wars in the Florida Everglades (1835-42), the Civil War, and the Yangtze River patrols in pre-World War II China—but the record was not a continuous one.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“When America had first become involved in Southeast Asia, no coastal or riverine patrol craft had been in the Navy’s inventory, no official doctrine existed for either kind of warfare, and even the unofficial literature appearing”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“These symbolized his advisors, who were living side by side with their Vietnamese counterparts. Some were assigned to the ships of the VNN seagoing forces. Others were patrolling the rivers of the Mekong Delta in converted World War II landing craft as advisors to the River Assault Groups. Some lived at remote coastal bases in thatched huts with members of the Vietnamese Junk Force.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“MACV—Military Assistance Command Vietnam—in May 1965.) As the number of advisors increased, more began to advise at the unit level. Increasingly, advisors appeared on Sea Force ships, with the River Assault Groups, and aboard junks. The die was cast: the American Navy had begun its coastal and riverine involvement in Vietnam.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“Lyndon Johnson wrote of the post-1961 period in his memoirs: “We increased assistance to the Vietnamese Navy to enable it to protect the coast against infiltration from the North and to patrol the inland waterways used extensively by the Viet Cong.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“What Geri Truett did know as she looked up at the gray steel of the Navy’s latest destroyer escort was that Quincy had been awarded the Navy Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor, for his bravery and selfless actions that night. She was very proud, yet so sad. She would wonder for the rest of her life what it was that drew her husband to Southeast Asia a second time, that caused him to leave her and their six children,”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“At least this was an underway patrol. He hated those damn stationary ambushes in which the boats would moor to some strategic spot on a riverbank and wait for the enemy to come to them. The mosquitoes would always have a banquet, and the hours of silent waiting would wear on his nerves.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“Normal operating procedure for the River Patrol Force had been to stay out on the main rivers where the PBRs could take advantage of their speed and maneuverability should they come under attack.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“A total of 2,663 Navy and 7 Coast Guard men died in the war. Not all of them died on the rivers or coasts of Vietnam, but a large percentage did.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

“The man who believes that he would never break under fire . . . has never been under fire.”
― Thomas J. Cutler, Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam