river division 153 on a PBR

ibuiltmine-o1oo

My Dad Joined the navy in late 70 and by 71 he was on the savannah. He ended up going up the mekong river on a pbrand a captain or pilot in the river division 153. He said that by the time they were really into it, most of the boats had been turned over to the vietminese, but he volunteered to stay, and make runs clear into cambodia dropping and picking up seals. he said he wasnt supposed to go that far and they said if they were caught then they were on their own. one trip back the boat poop out an engine, and by the next night, with the help of some plane mechanics, and two officer Delta 88's his boat was running twin 400hp 1970 Old 455 rockets! he said whe they would leave. they would be loaded with people and supplies, and pull two skiers, and still outrun the stock boats with only a couple people in them.
My Dad eventually took some schrapnel up and down one side of his body, and tore up his ankle pretty bad. In the doctor though they said he had severe bttle fatigue, and discharged him on a pending medical. otherwise he should have gotten a purple heart.
i dont know anything else about my dads division, other then he had a patch that said Mekong Delta yacht Club with a PRB and "the front 50's firing" and i cant find that patch, or even a picture of it anywhere!

he said he was river division 153, and he ran a pbr into cambodia taking seals up and back.
Is this the same as river assault division 153?
i dont know the name of the boat, but it would be really cool to converse with someone that was in the same area.
thanks for your time!
SEAN!
for michael tangeman from Cheyenne WY

River Rat

Hi Sean,

Bo here -- we corresponded recently. River Patrol and River Assault were typically separate functions, but they intermingled a lot. Those boats were handy for inserting and extracting a variety of folks -- mostly seals, but Army and unmentionables also. I was there briefly in late '72, and the operational structure could differ quite radically from year to year.

The boats were not as fast as you might expect, weighted down with ammo and armament, and it would take a swap from diesel to gas to make 'em peppy. Such a transformation would be possible, as the GM v-6 deisels were about the same size as a gas 455. Knowing GM, they might have had the same block. With time, boredom, and unlimited materiel anything is possible. We had a neighboring Marine chopper unit that built a Huey out of spare parts on a wrecked airframe. That bird technically didn't exist! Wonder where it is now.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We have so much to be thankful for!

River Rat

I had one of those T-shirts also. A bit different, I think it said "Mekong River Yacht Club." A modern Special Boat Unit came to Cody a couple opf years ago, and it was a hoot to give the shirt to one of the young men. They treated me like some Smithsonian artifact from an earlier time, and although I enjoyed the visit I felt like a very old man.

By the way, the boats didn't have names. Just numbers. unless somebody was bored, had a bit of paint, and thought he was clever. Generally, they were cheap critters meant to last a couple of months in combat. They didn't win your heart like a roadster or a B-17.

I can still hear the tinkly sound of 200 empty .50 cases running across the deck as the boat turns. And, 35 years later, the smell of diesel fumes still remids me. Funny what you remember, and what you don't.

ibuiltmine-o1oo

Bo, Thanks a lot for your memories!
i apreciate hearing aout the stuff...
i think in my dads case, he enjoys thinking about the mechanical part of his job over there, but that leads to other thoughts, then it quits being fun.
Thanks again!
SEAN!