Vam Co Dong Man-o-War
"Triumvirate" 5th/2nd
December 31, 1969
(original author not listed)
What weighs 70 tons, carries a full crew of men, puts out the firepower of a patrol base and floats? Give up? The H.M.S. Buttercup, of course
"Home-Made-Ship" Buttercup was nicknamed by the men of the first section, 1st platoon, Bravo Battery, led by 1LT Leslie M. Nishimura. It is a floating patrol base, with a duster, two bunkers and sleeping space for the craft's crew perched on an engineers raft sixty feet long and twenty feet wide.
The Buttercup was built by the 65th Engineer
Battalion on the Vam Co Dong at Hiep Hoa Sugar Mill near FSB Houston south of Cu Chi. From the Sugar Mill, the HMS Buttercup was towed by two Navy landing craft to the base at Tra Cu.
The Buttercup crew consists of the Duster crew under SSG Robert M. Wise, a ground surveillance radar section, and a squad of infantryman from Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry. The craft is towed from the docks at Tra Cu during the day for patrolling along the Vam Co Dong and is used for ambush patrols at night. It's main object is to attempt to cut off one of the major infiltration routs into the Saigon region. The Battalion Commander of the Wolfhound Infantry Battalion has credited the
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Buttercup with cutting infiltration along the waterway by two-thirds. In the past, only light infantry ambushes had been used along the banks of the river. Now the Buttercup has arrived on the scene, no enemy movement in the water can go undetected. Once a sampan is spotted or is picked up on the craft's radar, the twin 40-mm guns open up to bring the maxi-mum amount of discomfort to the enemy vessel.
Life in the Army's Navy, or the Navy's Army, or what have you, is not all business. How many other Gl's have the advantage of wall-to-wall swimming holes? And you know what they always say about Navy chow. And what better way is there to see the countryside without putting any miles on the track?
There were a few habits to change and adjustments to be made for 1st Platoon's sailors. After all does the gunners sit on the starboard or port side of the ship? Or where do you find the "head" on a sixty foot raft? And how many Duster crewman were told at Fort Bliss that they would have to be careful during firing so they wouldn't pop the plugs out of the bottom of the pontoons and sink the ship?
In any event, the men of Bravo battery look forward to each day as they set sail in search of adventure. They have taken Bravo to yet another corner of III Corps and acquainted more and more people with the Nickel-Deuce (5th battalion, 2nd Artillery), "The Second First" |
