I became infuriated when I read an article titled: "Key Republicans told Nixon in '71 to get out of Vietnam."
"WASHINGTON (AP) - As a presidential election drew near, 10 loyal Republican senators sat down in 1971 in the privacy of the White House, where two of them implored the president to get out of Vietnam and do it quickly."My Navy tour was spent with Naval Beach Group One-West Pac. Detachment-Amphibious Construction Battalion West Pacific Detachment. Amphibious Construction Battalion is a "Sea Bee" battalion.
In the summer of '69, I was a seaman apprentice. I worked on causeway piers sandblasting, red leading (painting a red primer) and then putting on the final Navy gray coat of paint on the sections. Then in the later summer, we latched floating sections to the sides of and put in the belly and on the top deck of three LSTs. LST is the abbreviation for Landing, Ship, Tank (Transport) and the bow doors open up. Then we sailed for the beaches of Da Nang. Thus started operation "Detachment November."
This was the start of our withdrawal from South Vietnam in the fall of 1969. Oh, by the way, this was the start of what Nixon called "Peace with honor."
I was involved in the operation called "Splash down." That operation was the unleashing of 16 causeway piers from thre LSTs in Da Nang, South Vietnam. Then the 16 sections were latched together in the operation we called "married up." This formed a floating 100 yards or so long loading pier. We would load LSTs or LSDs. Thus started the troop withdrawal from South Vietnam in 1969.
Where was our big, bad free press? I have said, "enough."
David G. Buck
Murray