VIETNAM VET DAY

[JNG]

Guess no one cares about the USN.
I lost a very great fiend. I SPENT A SLEW of MONTHS ON THE TONKIN GULF YACHT CLUB.
But those who was there, know what was going on at that time.
Guess I'm gettin old

Joe
.

[marlinman93]

Didn't know Vietnam Veteran's Day excluded any branch?

[Ysabel Kid]

???

https://www.levergunscommunity.org/view ... =1&t=84303

[Bruce Scott]

"The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration honors all veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time from November 1, 1955 to May 15, 1975, regardless of location.

November 1, 1955 was selected to coincide with the official designation of Military Assistance Advisory Group-Vietnam (MAAG-V); May 15, 1975 marks the end of the battle precipitated by the seizure of the SS Mayaguez.

The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that today there are more than 6 million U.S. Vietnam veterans living in America and abroad, along with 9 million families of those who served during this timeframe.

We make no distinction between veterans who served in-country, in-theater, or who were stationed elsewhere during the Vietnam War period. All were called to serve and none could self-determine where they would serve."


Copied From:
https://www.vietnamwar50th.com/about/na ... erans_day/

[Griff]

We discussed this here: https://www.levergunscommunity.org/view ... =1&t=84303, hopefully no one was offended by my response.

[earlmck]

I believe there are a fair sprinkling of levergunners who are also members of that Tonkin Gulf yacht club. My yacht was the Bon Homme, CVA 31.

[TraderVic]

I believe there are a fair sprinkling of levergunners who are also members of that Tonkin Gulf yacht club. My yacht was the Bon Homme, CVA 31.

USS John R Craig DD-885
USS Hoel DDG-13

[Griff]

I believe there are a fair sprinkling of levergunners who are also members of that Tonkin Gulf yacht club. My yacht was the Bon Homme, CVA 31.

USS John R Craig DD-885
USS Hoel DDG-13

USS Somers, DD-G34

[jeepnik]

Griff, I’m familiar with the designations DD and DE (an uncle commanded then in WW II). But what is a DDG?

[Griff]

Griff, I’m familiar with the designations DD and DE (an uncle commanded then in WW II). But what is a DDG?

DDG = Guided missile destroyer. Our's was actually a converted Forrest Sherman class DD... becoming a Decatur class DDG. Keel laid in 1958 then converted in 1967-68. The entire superstructure was removed along with 2 gun mounts, a new aluminum superstructure was added along with the Tartar missile system aft and ASROC amidships... new radars, etc.

[TraderVic]

Griff, I’m familiar with the designations DD and DE (an uncle commanded then in WW II). But what is a DDG?

My ship (USS Hoel, DDG-13) was a Charles Adams class guided missile destroyer, built in 1962. Much nicer than my first destroyer, the J.R. Craig DD885.

[jeepnik]

I worked at a shipyard in the mid 70’s. We refitted the USS Henderson, a Gearing class. Some of us were able to go on the post refit acceptance trials. One heck of a ride when at full speed in very small seas. In larger seas they weren’t for the faint of heart or those prone to seasickness.

I’d take a C-130 in bad air any day.

[Griff]

I worked at a shipyard in the mid 70’s. We refitted the USS Henderson, a Gearing class. Some of us were able to go on the post refit acceptance trials. One heck of a ride when at full speed in very small seas. In larger seas they weren’t for the faint of heart or those prone to seasickness.
I’d take a C-130 in bad air any day.

In high school, we had a neighbor who was XO on the Henderson. A Destroyerman is a special kind of sailer...
"THE DESTROYER MEN
There’s a roll and pitch and a heave and hitch
To the nautical gait they take,
For they’ re used to the cant of the decks aslant
As the white-toothed combers break
On the plates that thrum like a beaten drum
To the thrill of the turbines might,
As the knife bow leaps through the yeasty deeps
With the speed of a shell in flight!

Oh ! their scorn is quick for the crews who stick
To a battleship s steady floor,
For they love the lurch of their own frail perch
At thirty-five knots or more.
They don't get much of the drills and such
That the battleship jackies do,
But sail the seas in their dungarees,
A grimy destroyer's crew.

They needn’t climb at their sleeping time
To a hammock that sways and bumps,
They leap kerplunk ! in a cozy bunk
That quivers and bucks and jumps.
They hear the sound of the seas that pound
On the half-inch plates of steel
And close their eyes to the lullabies
Of the creaking frame and keel.

They scour the deep for the subs that creep
On their dirty assassin's work,
And their keenest fun is to hunt the Hun
Wherever his U-boats lurk.
They live in hope that a periscope
Will show in the deep sea swell,
Then a true shot hits and it's "Good-bye, Fritz"
His future address is Hell!

They’re a lusty crowd and they’re vastly proud
Of the slim, swift craft they drive ;
Of the roaring flues and the humming screws
Which make her a thing alive.
They love the lunge of her surging plunge
And the murk of her smoke screen, too,
As they sail the seas in their dungarees,
A grimy destroyer's crew!"

Refueling in heavy seas... and this was on the lee side of the aircraft carrier! We were rated for 40º rolls. Somewhere I have an image I took that I swear is closer to 45º than that 40º!

[TraderVic]

I worked at a shipyard in the mid 70’s. We refitted the USS Henderson, a Gearing class. Some of us were able to go on the post refit acceptance trials. One heck of a ride when at full speed in very small seas. In larger seas they weren’t for the faint of heart or those prone to seasickness.

I’d take a C-130 in bad air any day.

Small world, when I arrived in Subic, compliments of the infamous bus ride from Clark AFB, my destroyer was out on the gun line, so I was assigned to the USS Henderson DD-785 until I could catch up with my ship. I was on the Henderson about two weeks.

[Ray Newman]

My brother did 2 years on the USS Remey -- DD688 -- based out of New Port and Brooklyn. He said the Atlantic was no summer cruise in the winter.

A late neighbor served in the Canadian Navy --1940-1945, and assigned to the HMCS Chilliwack, a corvette, on the North Atlantic convoy runs. He claimed a destroyer was like a cruise ship compared to much smaller corvettes.

[TraderVic]

A late neighbor served in the Canadian Navy --1940-1945, and assigned to the HMCS Chilliwack, a corvette, on the North Atlantic convoy runs. He claimed a destroyer was like a cruise ship compared to much smaller corvettes.

When one looks at the old corvette classes of escorts, I'd agree with him, especially on the Atlantic.

[Ray Newman]

Trader Vic: I never realized how small the corvette ship class was until after speaking with my late neighbor. I always thought that they were more for coastal duty. I don't know how those sailors did it crossing the north Atlantic in winter and speed was at the top speed pf the slowest ship. Surprised me that his ship could only do 16 knots! John also told me that when he left the ship, the ribs were very visible from where the steel plates had been dented inward from the storms and ice. he said the ship was very beat up and scrapped soon after.

For information about my neighbor's old ship-- https://readyayeready.com/ships/shipview.php?id=1090

[TraderVic]

Ray,
16 knots, that's it ? I would have guessed twice that at least. Yep, the sailors on the corvettes had balls for sure. It must have been a bear to stay warm (and somewhat dry) running the North Atlantic on those ships.
My first can (John R Craig DD-885) was a Gehring Class, had been "frammed" well before I came aboard. Our flank speed (all four boilers lit) was 35+ knots. Thankfully we didn't go flank very often because we would pop rivets on bulkheads, some passageway bulkheads actually fell across into the opposite bulkheads. This also sometimes occurred when we were shooting our 5" guns.
When we were in drydock in Sasebo, Japan (the Japanese do very good work BTW), the paint sprayers were punching g some holes through some of our steel plates, thus an extra couple weeks in drydock to replace them.
Guess I rambled a bit......sorry.