Vietnam War River Patrol: A U.S. Gunboat Captain Returns to the Mekong Delta

by Richard H. Kirshen

Overview

As a 20-year-old gunboat captain and certified U.S. Navy diver in the Mekong Delta, the author was responsible for both the vessel and the lives of its crew. Ambushes and firefights became the norm, along with numerous dives—almost 300 in 18 months. Forty years after the war, he returned as a tourist. This journal records his contrasting impressions of the Delta—alternately disturbing and enlightening—as seen first from a river patrol boat, then from a luxury cruise ship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476668147
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	02/13/2017
Pages:	260
Sales rank:	300,409
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.52(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Richard H. Kirshen has had three short stories published as well as numerous stories published in on-line magazines. He lives in Cooper City, Florida.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction
 1. First Encounter
 2. Go Back?
 3. Flying Follies
 4. Hong Kong to Saigon
 5. How the Navy Got Me to Vietnam
 6. Japan and Overt Sexuality
 7. Subic Bay, Diving and Coronado
 8. Prep-Work for War
 9. Arrival
10. How the Hell Had I Ended Up in This Mess Anyway?
11. Touring Saigon
12. My Initial Introduction to Saigon
13. Eating
14. Cu Chi, Mr. Nam and the Tunnels
15. Operation Giant Slingshot
16. The Post Office and the Angkor
17. Nha Be
18. River Jobs
19. The Mekong
20. The Eskimo
21. Visits Along the River
22. Fish Farms and Wiping Out a Village
23. Cambodia and Night Travel
24. Phnom Penh and the Killing Fields
25. Our Prisoner
26. The Boat Show
27. New Life
28. Visiting a Cambodian Village
29. Again with the Darkness and My Night on the River
30. The Fighting Monks
31. Zippo Boats and Body Counts
32. The Afternoon Trip Without Me
33. R & R
34. Bus Rides and Ox Carts
35. On Watch
36. Busses, Goat Roads and Angkor Thom
37. Life on the River and Getting Shot
38. The Hotel and New Year’s Eve
39. Cam Ranh Bay
40. Angkor Wat and the Citadel of Women
41. Bare Sole
42. Hanging Out in Town
43. The Incidents
44. Bangkok and the End of the Trips
45. Entertainment
46. War?
Acronyms and Foreign Words
Index