Absolutely FANTASTIC! NAVY SEALS - Their Untold Story traces the rich history of the SEALs from their predecessor days as WWII Frogmen and Underwater Demolition Teams doing beach recon and blowing up the German obstacles preparatory to the D-Day landings through the roles they were assigned in the Korean War. These led to the "birth papers" issued for them in the same speech President Kennedy charged us with landing on the moon by the end of the 1960's. The SEALs matured with all the operations in which they were a part in Vietnam to become the truly ELITE warriors that they have become in Iraq and Afghanistan after having learned some hard lessons in operations in Grenada and Panama. Undoubtedly, they are best known for their essentially flawless accomplishments in the rescue of Captain Phillips from Somali pirates and the killing of Osama bin Laden.
I thoroughly enjoyed this superb telling of the history of this group of warriors who are without any doubt the elite of the elite of ANY military group from ANY country in the history of the world. Having personally spent 28 years of my life in the Navy, I am exceedingly proud to call the SEALs my brothers if only by the narrowest thread of association. I very highly recommend this book to all mature, interested readers
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POSTSCRIPT: I spent my active duty military service with the U.S. Navy. My ship - U.S.S. Vernon County (LST-1161) - was deployed frequently during my time on board from June 1968 to January 1971, to that area of South Vietnam south of Saigon, initially as a part of the Mobile Riverine Force on the Mekong River and later just around the western side of the extreme southern tip at the Ca Mau Peninsula. While reading NAVY SEALS - Their Untold Story, I learned of a number of SEALs assignments which we were supporting, although I did not know that at the time. The following quote from the book gives some insight into this: “SEALs were soon operating from riverine bases around the lower Mekong Delta. From 1966 through 1971, platoons from SEAL Teams One and Two conducted direct-action operations against the Viet Cong.” An interesting side quote from the same page as the previous quote is: “SEALs also wore pantyhose, to keep the leeches off of you when you’re going through the canals.”
The incredibly brave Seawolf helicopter pilots were a significant part of the success of the SEALs missions in the Mekong Delta region. They would fly into some pretty rough combat areas to extract the SEALs when needed. They were always there whenever needed and without any hesitancy. The main responsibilities U.S.S. Vernon County had when deployed in this area was to provide helicopter and small riverine craft support, i.e., bullets and food. The Seawolf helos would land on our deck when we were at anchor in the Mekong River to get those supplies for their SEALs. I am proud to know that I played a small role, peripheral though it may have been, in helping the SEALs accomplish some of their missions.
Another quote from the book gives some insight into the relationship between the SEALs and their supporting helos and between the helos and the LSTs (i.e., my ship and her sister ships): “The Seawolf pilots were superb. ‘I don’t know a single SEAL who operated in Vietnam and wasn’t saved by those guys at least once,’ wrote veteran Vietnam-era SEAL leader Robert Gormly. ‘They were the best helo crews I’d ever seen. Land-based throughout the Delta and aboard LSTs (amphibious support vessels anchored at the mouths of rivers), they’d fly anywhere, any time, to support us.” {Actually, the LSTs were anchored VERY CONSIDERABLY up the river from the mouth. In fact my almost 400’ ship made a transit from one site to another on the river almost to the Cambodian border, a VERY LONG, LONG way from the mouth of the river.}
My final Postscript comment relates to the only Navy-controlled area of operations in Vietnam, i.e., Sea Float/Solid Anchor. It was a SEAL/UDT base anchored in Cua Lon River, 1969. The floating base (later moved ashore and called Solid Anchor) was a focal point for SEAL/UDT operations in Vietnam. A contributor SEAL described it as follows: “Solid Anchor was located in the southern portion of An Xuien Province. If Florida were Vietnam, it was the area at the southern tip, just below and west of Miami. Most of the territory was controlled by local-force Viet Cong guerrillas with an occasional company-sized North Vietnamese Army (NVA) unit moving through the area. A SEAL command history from that time described the environment like this: ‘exposure to almost impenetrable mangrove swamps, mud, tidal flats, prolonged immersions in water, and infestations of crocodiles, snakes, and other tropical animals, insects, and diseases, in conjunction with enemy booby-traps, punji stakes, and direct contact, have become a matter of routine on patrols, ambushes, and listening post operations.’ It was miserable, but it was equally miserable for our enemy.” The reason for including this quote as part of my postscript is as a basis for commenting that on several deployments my ship was assigned to the area around Square Bay, where the Cua Lon River flows into the Gulf of Thailand. We were at anchor about a mile or so off the coast. One time I was the boat officer assigned to make a re-supply run from our ship to Sea Float, several miles up the Cua Lon River from the coast. It was quite a “hairy” experience.
[Book 4 of 2015 Target 50 (Jan-3; Feb-1)]