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| Hatch to my
stateroom. |
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Sid Snook (me)…CO at the
tender age of 25…I'm now 61. |
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| Another standard USN picture of
the MoBase. |
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Patrol Boat River Mobile Base
standard issue US Navy photo. During my tour we were tied up along the Vam Co
Tae river bank about 2 kilometers south of the Tan Anh bridge and right next to
the Tan Anh town. The South Vietnamese province chief lived in Tan Anh. On the
shore next to MoBase2 was a CIA compound and an Army fire support base. ~245 US
and South Vietnamese men and officers. We did the following things: PBS and
"heavies" repair, re-supply, berthing, feeding, operations command center,
coordination "things" with CIA and Army. |
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| Early in my tour (in an effort to
be "one of the guys") I organized a hunting expedition up river )(Vam Co Tae)
to "VC Island"…a free fire zone. We took the "Mike" boat (LCVMP) and
several PBS. Sitting right to left: Sid Snook (CO), kneeling GM1st Dobbs, Ltjg
John Bellows (Supply Officer) |
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Sid Snook (CO) acting crazy
inside my stateroom. |
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| Sid Snook (CO) still acting crazy
inside my stateroom. |
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Change of command ceremonies on
the repair bay. I don't remember the name of the guy who relieved
me. |
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| Sid Snook (CO) giving my "AMF"
speech (Adios Mother F_ _ ker) |
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The welcome sign at the gangway
land entrance to the base. |
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|
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| A picture across the river from
the MoBase. |
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Big gun 'heavies" tied up along
side. |
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| Sid Snook (CO) receiving
award…a view up river (northwest)…towards the point of the "Parrots
Beak" of Cambodia…the confluence of the Vam Co Tae and the Vam Co Dong
rivers. |
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Cookout…on the repair bay.
We did this just about every other week. |
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|
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| Don Duncan, LT, LDO repair
officer in his stateroom. |
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A view down river towards the sea
(south east). |
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| A view down river (south east)
and the MoBase flight/helo deck. US and Pennsylvania flag flying. (I was born
in Middletown PA). We eventually were flying flags of about 8 different
states. |
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MoBase galley. |
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| "Loch" helo landing. I went for a
ride… |
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A view of the base as we took off
in the "Loch" |
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A Huey landing on the
MoBase. |
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| We overhauled the 250 HP marine
diesels, the jacuzzi water propulsion pumps, as well as patching the fiberglass
hulls when they got battle damaged. |
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The PBS repair bay of the
MoBase. |
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|
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| A view of the MoBase from the
land side. |
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An example of what a VC B-40
rocket would do to a fiberglass hulled PBR. |
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| An example of what a VC B-40
rocket would do to a fiberglass hulled PBR. |
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| PBRs traveling "on step" drawing
just a few inches of water draft. |
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| The river "fleet" tied up along
side the MoBase. |
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| The MoBase had a deck mounted,
trainable 81 mm mortar gun. This is a picture of one of the times we provided
the Army troops and PBRs with "Star" shell illumination at night. |
|
Ltjg John Bellows, the supply
officer. |
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|
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| Die Wei (Lt) Phan Ba Tiu my
assigned South Vietnamese intrepreter and his family. |
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A scene of beauty in a deadly
dangerous place. |
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|
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| Two helos on the flight deck at
the same time! A bit scary for the pilots and the flight deck crew! |
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The floating logs and mooring
buoy were part of an anti Vietnam063 sapper/swimmer razor wire net that we
designed to discourage the VC "indians" from swimming in and planting charges.
They still tried six times…all unsuccessfully. However, the CIA guys
brought a VC "chu how" guy over one day and he described a successful "dry run"
he had done. We "profilacitcally" threw ¼ pound TNT depth charges in the
water from 2 ends of the base at a random rate of about 10 per hour. Needless
to say there were not too many fishes around…. We went through about
10,000 depth charges each month. I went to sleep listening to the comforting
sound of explosions. |
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|
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| Army guys doing their thing in
tanks at Ben Luc near the MoBase. |
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"Beautiful" downtown
Saigon!!! |
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| The South Vietnamese presidential
palace in Saigon. |
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"Beautiful" downtown
Saigon!!! |
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|
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| The design originated by the men
and officers of PBR Mobase 2 during my tour of duty…Jan 1971. |
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PBR Mobase 2 NAVSUPPACT
insignia. |
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| NAVSUPPACT insignia. |
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PBS Mobase 2 blue beret cap
insignia. |
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|
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| Insignia of the various US and
South Vietnamese river divisions assigned to the MoBase2 during tour of duty.
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Insignia of the various US and
South Vietnamese river divisions assigned to the MoBase2 during tour of duty.
|
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| Insignia of the various US and
South Vietnamese river divisions assigned to the MoBase2 during tour of duty.
|
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Insignia of the various US and
South Vietnamese river divisions assigned to the MoBase2 during tour of duty.
|
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|
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| Insignia of the various US and
South Vietnamese river divisions assigned to the MoBase2 during tour of duty.
|
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Insignia of the various US and
South Vietnamese river divisions assigned to the MoBase2 during tour of duty.
|
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|
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| Insignia of the various US and
South Vietnamese river divisions assigned to the MoBase2 during tour of duty.
|
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"Tran Hung Dao" "Giant Slingshot"
campaign pin. The "Giant Slingshot" was roughly the north and south sides
(rivers) that formed the part of Cambodia known as the "Parrots Beak". The PBS
Mobase 2 was stationed about 17 miles south east of the river
confluence…the point of the beak… during my tour of duty. |
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