Swift Boats, Home and Friend to Their Six Man Crew

Swift Boats, Home and Friend to Their Six Man Crew. Manned by an Officer-In-Charge (Ensign to Lieutenant), and five crew. , Bravery Under Fire , An operation that occurred on 28 January 1969 attested to the courage and quick-thinking of the young Swift Boat Sailors. Lieutenant (junior grade) John Rodgers Roland Jr., the officer in tactical command of PCF-35 and PCF-100, brought his charges into a narrow canal off the Mekong Delta's Ham Luong River. A Viet Cong force positioned on both sides of the canal suddenly hit the two American units with a volley of accurate gunfire, wounding two crewman on PCF-100 and throwing them into the water. Blinded by smoke and unaware that his shipmates had been knocked overboard, the coxswain properly "stepped on the gas" to get his boat free of the kill zone. Even though the enemy fire then concentrated on PCF-35, a rocket propelled grenade hit it, Roland did not follow suit. Seeing the PCF-100 Sailors in the water, the officer endured the enemy fire, maneuvered to the two Sailors, and hauled them on board for a safe withdrawal from the area. For his gallant action, the service awarded Lieutenant (junior grade) Roland the Navy Cross. This coolness and resourcefulness under fire was typical of Swift Boat combat operations, which resulted in numerous citations for bravery. The cost was high: 50 Swift Boat crewmembers were killed in action, over 350 were wounded, and four Swift Boats were lost to enemy action or violent storms., PCF-1 , Those Swift Boats sent to Vietnam not lost to enemy action were turned over to the South Vietnam's Navy before American forces were withdrawn from South Vietnam in 1973. Thus, with the fall of South Vietnam to the invading forces from North Vietnam in 1975, remaining boats were destroyed or captured by the enemy forces. However, not all Swift Boats went to Vietnam. Several remained "stateside" to train Sailors at bases in California for their upcoming deployments to the war zone. After the Vietnam War, PCF-1 ended its operational days at Rodman Naval Station, Panama, from where it was transferred to Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Virginia. Painted and refurbished there, this boat, under its own power and crewed with active duty sailors and Vietnam War Swift Boat veterans, made the voyage up the Chesapeake Bay, and the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers to the Washington Navy Yard in June 1995. In April 1998, PCF-1 was formally dedicated here in honor of the men who served, and in memory of those lost in combat., Retired Admiral and former Chief of Naval Operations Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. was the guest of honor at that ceremony.