Retired military officers and civilians were treated to a detailed account of what US soldiers endured during the Vietnam War at a March 29 live commemoration hosted by Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum. Following the opening ceremonies of Vietnam Veterans Day, retired Navy serviceman John Smock regaled the audience with stories about his deployment to Saigon in the late 1960s as a member of Brown Water Navy Operations — Task Force 116. The early part of Smock's journey saw him and his military colleagues patrol the Mekong Delta and other waterways to throttle Viet Cong (a South Vietnam Communist-led guerrilla force allied with North Vietnam to thwart the South Vietnamese government) operations.
But everything changed for both sides following the Tet Offensive of 1968 that saw the northerners and the Viet Cong launch a series of attacks during the Vietnamese New Year. The incursion caught the South Vietnamese and Americans by surprise since the Vietnamese New Year was usually a time for locals to tuck away their guns for three days and celebrate with family. "This time they didn't.
This was the attack and they overran everything," said Smock. "Tet changed the war ..
. from the point of view of the river boats, we had a lot more action after that. After that, it got to be a lot more operational.
" As firefights grew more common, Smock's task force started losing sailors, with five of his 60 comrades killed in battle and 30 percent of the unit wounded in one form or fashio.
