On Saturday, January 14, Ken Delfino of Keystone talked about his combat experiences during the Tet Offensive with the US Navy’s River Patrol Force in South Viet Nam. As he says, “this small segment of my life is dedicated to my brothers-in-arms with whom I patrolled the Long Tau, Soi Rap, Co Chien, My Tho and Ham Luong Rivers for 22 months.”
Delfino’s memoir describes the violent onslaught of the Tet Offensive in the treacherous waters of the Mekong Delta: “WHUMP!…. ah, it’ll stop I thought…. KABAAAAM!!!!!!…the building shook…crap was flying all over the place and that, along with the close sounds of automatic weapons immediately woke me!”
Robert J. Moir, Delfino’s executive officer, has written about their experiences: “During the Vietnam War, small U.S. Navy units patrolled Mekong Delta rivers in fiberglass boats armed with machine guns, four men to a boat. By day they stopped Vietnamese junks, sampans and water taxis, checked people’s identification, and searched for weapons and contraband. At night, during curfew, they drifted silently with the current, watching and listening for enemy movement. They were often targets for Viet Cong gunners. Boats were hit and men were wounded and killed.”
Sponsored by the Black Hills Veterans Writing Group, the free family event took place at Ellsworth Air Force Base’s South Dakota Air and Space Museum, starting at 9 am.
