BM-1 Ray F. Longaker Jr

 

"Republic of Vietnam tours for me started when assigned to the Security Platoon of Mobile Construction Battalion EIGHT which deployed to Chu Lai, RVN from 1966 to 1967 as a Boatswains Mate Third Class.

 

 

Early morning at Bien Son 60 Ton Timber Bridge Project

Guard Post.  Not a real "happy camper,"  however I'm proud to say

that I won an "In-Country" promotion to Boatswains Mate Second Class.

 

After the MCB-8 RVN tour transferred to the USS Princeton LPH-5 which deployed to the waters of RVN from 1967 to 1968 time periods while supporting Marine Landing  Battalions and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadrons, including delivering Combat Cargo ashore plus delivering Army aircraft to Vung Tao, as a Boatswains Mate Second Class.

 

 

Relaxing from Condition III Steaming off the coast of RVN and getting ready to transfer from Mount 52 to my next watch as BMOW.

 

Advancing to Boatswains Mate First Class and transferred to Naval Inshore Operations Training Center for training in class 10/69, in late July 1969.  Of note, Class 10/69 was split in half where one half went to the then new S.T.A.B. boats and the rest of us were to be assigned TF-117 River Squadrons.

 

Upon graduating from NIOTC was assigned "In-Country" to River Squadron THIRTEEN, River Division 131.  I NEVER saw River Division 131 or any of that division's personnel as the "Tango" boat I was assigned had been converted to an ATC-Water Cannon, and was redesignated T-14.

 

 

"Plugged Into" one of the PRC-46's.

 

It should be noted here that Squadrons NINE and ELEVEN had been decommissioned and all the remaining American boats had been renumbered.  For example, the boat I was assigned as Boat Captain had been T-111-6 (Armored Troop Carrier - River Squadron ELEVEN - River Division 111 - Boat Number 6) and was simply T-14 (Armored Troop Carrier 14).  On of the officers at Dong Tam who assigned me to T-14 said, "... you'll be in charge of a douche boat ..."  I'm thinking, "... oh, wonderful ..." and when I actually saw the "pigsty" for the first time I really thought, "... oh, wonderful ..."

 

 

Tango 14 around December 1969 T.A.D. to Muc Hoa and U.S. River Patrol Squadron 511.

 

 

"You [ an officer ] called it a douche boat, okay it's "Irma-La-Douche."

 

One may ask what I'd be doing joining the "Gamewardens"  "NW"?  I spent my first seven or so months with my boat Tango-14 and crew assigned T.A.D. to PBR Divisions, namely River Division 511 out of Tra Cu on the Song Vam Co Dong and River Division 552 out of Muc Hoa on the Song Vam Co Tay.  These units, as I understood were still part of the on going Giant Slingshot Operation.  Giant Slingshot being the three arms, or three rivers bordering the "Parrot's Beak."  That is, the Song Vam Co Tay to the west, the Song Vam Co Dong to the east and both connected to the main river to the south the Song Vam Co.

 

Being a special purpose boat Tango-14 with the water cannons was used to sweep booby-traps, search out and destroy spider holes, trenches, bunkers and other types of fighting positions.  The water cannons put out 2,700 gallons of water a minute and 250 pounds of pressure at the nozzle.  A bunch of numbers when transferred to the real world meant that if you tried to pass a baseball bat through the stream of water, if you did manage to just to barely penetrate the stream of water you and the bat would be yanked over the side before you knew what hit you!  That's a lot of high pressure water!  With the water cannons Tango-14 was credited with knocking out in excess of 352 fighting positions, with each position documented, including two ammunition cashes plus destroying numerous booby-traps both improvised explosive and fixed punji stake traps.

 

 

BM1 Ray F. Longaker Jr. sitting on cans of M4 Napalm Mix cleaning my M-60 in an ammo can of diesel fuel after a fire fight.  (The Zippo Boat is to my right.)

 

Some of the water cannon machinery is visible in the background.

 

Specifically, in regards to the water cannons, during a fire fight one of RIVDIV 552's PBR's dodged a RPG-7 and hit the river bank at full speed, at night, in a hail of "bad guys" automatic weapons fire and came to a stop approximately 70 feet from the water's edge, turning itself into a "static plastic fort."  That's a bad thing, however the crew, radio's and weapons were evacuated by it's lead boat while to other two PBR patrol elements provided cover.  I was dispatched the next morning with a Navy diver who had been flown up at first light to see what we could do about recovering the PBR.  Long story short, I used both water cannons to cut a canal to where I could float my boat into that canal to keep cutting water deep and wide enough for me to get close enough to get the PBR out.  In "Indian Country," with "Indians" spotted from time to time, part of my crew manned the guns while my engineer, the forward gunner, diver and I worked all morning cutting the canal and by mid afternoon the Navy diver and I were rigging a salvage bridle on the PBR and floated her out and back into the river.

 

 

T-14 in the freshly dug canal under cutting the PBR in preparation for rigging the salvage bridle and sliding the PBR off it's unintended LZ.

 

During my tour Tango-14 was turned over to the RVN Navy and Squadron 13 was decommissioned and I was reassigned to River Squadron FIFTEEN, River Division 153 which was an Assault Support Patrol Boat Division out of Nha Bhe.  I was assigned as Boat Captain of T-32 the second water cannon tango boat and was one of three "Heavy's" assigned to the division.  The three "Heavy's" as they called us were a Zippo Boat, Zippo Refueler/Utility Boat and Tango-32 Water Cannon Boat.  We were assigned "Sunday Specials" which meant we left Nha Bhe on Friday to be preposition on the east side of the Highway 23 bridge in the Can Geouc Province by Saturday night.  Had to wait for low slack water, take down our mast and then ease under the highway bridge.  At "Dark Thirty" on Sunday morning we'd load on board U.S. Army Special Forces and ARVN's and by their directions go into "Indian Country" and hold Reveille on 'Charlie' the first thing Sunday Morning.

 

 

Zippo-4 "Holding Reveille" on a suspected NVA position by direction of U.S. Army Special Forces and ARVN personnel.  Utility-5 and my boat Tango-32, in this photograph are in blocking positions at a bend in the river.

 

After return from Vietnam I was assigned to the Naval Support Activity, Mare Island, Vallejo, CA where I had the rare privilege of training for and becoming an Enlist Tugmaster NEC-0161.  Additionally, I was one of the very few Boatswains Mates, if you don't mind me "blowing my own horn," who went from BM-1 to BMCM on Navy Harbor Tugs Large (YTB's), for a total of approximately fourteen years in this rare "Closed-Loop-Tug-Community."  As stated, what a rare privilege.  Don't know how I got it, but most grateful.

 

 

In 1984 Congress ordered the Navy (very long story) to discontinue building and funding the Navy Harbor Tugs and "User Commands."  I was due for orders then so I took orders for and UNREP'er.  I served out my last four years as Command Master Chief on board the USS Camden AOE-2.  A great ship and a great tour of duty serving as both Deck Department and Command Master Chief.

 

Upon transferring to the Fleet Reserve I sat for and obtained a U.S.C.G. license as Master of Steam or Motor Vessels 1600 Tons and secured a Captain's job with PETCHEM, Inc. September 1989.  PETCHEM, Inc. is a tug company out of Wilmington, NC.  The company has vessels at Port Canaveral, FL, Port Aransas, TX and Naval Submarine Base, Bangor, WA.  I'm the company's Resident Agent and Captain of the M/V Mitchell Hebert which is the MSC Contract Tug at Bangor.

 

 

M/V Mitchell Hebert presenting a Water Cannon Salute to the USS Pennsylvania SSBN-735 on her first arrival after being Home Ported at Subase Bangor.

 

Something happened along the way in that I'm still working but somehow I got "old, fat and ugly."  (That's meant to be funny.)