The true story of an elite group of men who wrote a page in Naval history. They patrolled the waterways in thirty-one foot river patrol boats powered by Detroit diesel engines with water jet-propulsion. Armed with machineguns and grenade launchers, as well as sheer guts and determination, these sailors faced danger around every bend in the river. Working together, they became one of the finest weapons in Admiral Zumwalt’s arsenal for turning back the tide of communist infiltration into Saigon, taking control of the inland waterways. These are true accounts of their bravery, which they proved time and again by spearheading operations into enemy controlled territory. United together in brotherhood, they accomplished all their missions and won their part of the Vietnam War. Ralph Christopher served in the U.S. Navy in 1967 aboard USS Vega and completed three WESPACs off the coast of Vietnam in support of Operation Market Time and Yankee Statiion. In 1970 he volunteered and served with the River Patrol Force aboard YRBM 21 and at ATSB Phouc Xuyen. as well as ATSB Ben Keo. After returning home to Richmond, he attended classes at VCU in Virgina and later graduated the Musician's Instute of Technology in Hollywood. He is now a veteran performer and recording artist of over thirty years and lives in Las Vegas with his family where he writes and speaks of the Brown Water Navy in Vietnam. Iron Butterfly By Ralph Christopher Jim Davy AuthorHouse Copyright © 2010 Ralph Christopher and Chief Jim Davy All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4520-2703-6 Chapter One RIVER SECTION 544 United States Naval Forces, Vietnam, had been patrolling the Rung Sat Special Zone south of Saigon for over two years by May 1968 and had extended operations even further south into the Mekong Delta. Code named Operation Game Warden, river patrol boats patrolled the strategic Long Tau Shipping Channel and engaged in a large variety of actions which included river ambushes, gunfire support, amphibious landings, and salvage operations. Acts of valor by brown water sailors were numerous with allied forces fighting fiercely to take back Viet Cong-controlled waterways. The South Vietnamese Navy, accompanied by American advisors, continued to grow and demonstrate a willingness and ability to meet and defeat the enemy. Game Warden operations also continued to expand as more patrol boats arrived from the States, with new units being formed. River Section 544 "the Iron Butterfly" was one of them. On May 1st, 1968, Navy Lieutenant William David "Bill" Straight, a 1961 Naval Academy graduate, was stationed at Nha Be Naval Support Activity Base when the soft spoken man of Fairmont, West Virginia, received a message from the Commander of Naval Forces, Vietnam, Rear Admiral Kenneth L. Veth, to officially activate River Section 544. Although Lieutenant Straight had no river patrol boats whatsoever at the time, he went ahead with the formal task of giving birth to a new river combat unit. When twenty-nine year old Lieutenant Straight first arrived at Nha Be, he was assigned to train with River Section 542. On a night training patrol that included going into a very narrow canal, without permission, west of the Soi Rap River, the boat became grounded. Bill, the patrol officer, and the crew had to get out and wade through the water while physically pushing the boat backward out into the river. What with the tide going out, the canal had become too shallow and the boat had gotten caught in a peculiar position. The crew didn't seem too concerned. But Bill was. I was scared shitless. I also noticed that I was the only one with a helmet and a flak jacket on at the time. Bill Straight The Patrol Boat River, called PBRs by the men that served on them, had already gained much fame shortly after the first 120 Mark I patrol boats arrived in 1966 and had become the great nemesis of the Viet Cong, depriving them of the waterways they had once controlled. Designated Task Force 116, the river patrol boats first operated in the southern part of South Vietnam in the Rung Sat Special Zone river system between Saigon and the South China Sea. They then pushed further south into the Mekong Delta region, as far as the Cambodian Border. The missions of Game Warden were to interdict communist infiltration, enforce curfews, prevent taxation of water traffic by the Viet Cong, counter enemy movement and resupply efforts, use loudspeakers to promote the amnesty "Chieu Hoi" program for enemy deserters, and gain the support of the Vietnamese people through Civic Action Programs providing medical care and by giving away such items as soap, fishing gear, and school supplies. Operation Game Warden also patrolled and swept mines from the shipping channel into Saigon and other coastal cities and was almost entirely made up of PBRs, with some modified landing craft and minesweeper boats called MSBs. It was a young officer's war where lieutenants had a lot of responsib