U.S. COAST GUARD IN VIETNAM WAR NGUNG LAI RIVERINE FORCE 78754

About

This Vietnam War-era United States Coast Guard film takes the viewer to the coast of South Vietnam onboard the cutter Point White (CG82308), as a sailor is heard lamenting the tedious nature of the patrol to make sure supplies are not being delivered to the Viet Cong. “You’re at sea more than 70 percent of your time. What a life,” he notes at mark 1:00. As the ship approaches a vessel, an officer shouts “Ngung Lai” and the meaning of the Vietnamese phrase — “STOP!” — flashes on the screen at mark 01:30, along with the explanation that it is the mission of Operation Market Time to stop the flow of all water-born supplies to the enemy.

Huddled men, women, and children look up at the camera from their wooden boat as armed Coast Guard sailors stand over them. Although the majority of the fishing boats or floating markets are peaceful, the film cautions that there is still a risk of having one of those boats ready to aid the enemy with guns or ammunition.

For the men onboard, the film notes, life onboard was not terrible. Unlike soldiers in the jungle, those in the Coast Guard enjoyed air conditioning and a good supply of food. “We were well stocked. The only thing to be added was a little imagination from the cook,” we are told as the scene flashes on cake being served in the mess aboard the Point Cook (CG82312).

With experience in patrol and inspection in maritime waters, however, the narrator says it came as no real surprise when the Coast Guard was called to duty in Vietnam for similar exercises. After arriving at the Coast Guard Receiving Center at Alameda, California, and assignment to Coast Guard Squadron 1 (the first military Coast Guard unit since World War II), the film takes us to U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Training Base Pacific in San Diego, where they receive physicals and training with the M-14 rifle and 50-caliber machine gun.

Yet all that training was leading up to the “main event,” we are told at mark 07:45 — survival training. If a cutter as ever run around, the viewer is told, the crew would have to take to the hills or jungles. The film takes the viewer through lessons on edible plants and how to catch and skin a rabbit (with vivid footage at mark 08:30). They also learned how to resist interrogation if captured.

The camera next catches a glimpse of the Point Mast (CG82315) being loaded onboard a merchant ship at mark 10:35 as we are next taken to the U.S. Navy Supply Depot at Subic Bay in the Philippines. Rocky seas toss the Point Glover (CG82307) about at one point, but the narrator notes that rough seas are no match for the Coast Guard.

With the squadron’s Division 11 stationed at Anthoi in the south (as discussed starting at mark 12:05) ships patrolled coastline from the coast of Thailand all the way to the Cambodian border. Division 12 was stationed to the north, at Da Nang, to seal off supplies from North Vietnam. In July 1965 the cutters headed out on their first patrols. The film takes us along as personal identification cards and ship manifests are checked and vessels checked — as many as 60 boardings a day.

Because every passenger onboard, whether it be a young boy or old man, posed a potential threat, “Every boarding was treated as if ‘this were it,’” the narrator relates at mark 15:10. Over time, the crews began to bond with some of the villagers and provided them with soap, towels, writing supplies, and other gestures of kindness, as well as providing basic medical attention . With a third division added in early 1966, the entire coastline of Vietnam would now be patrolled, we’re told at mark 18:40, from the Cambodian border to the 17th Parallel. In the first year of the operation, 250 tons of equipment was stopped from reaching the Viet Cong. In addition, the Coast Guard captured or destroyed 22 enemy junks and two steel-hull vessels, and killed, wounded, or captured 100 Viet Cong, without damage to any American ships.

“Most important of all, the sea lanes along the South Vietnamese coast were effectively closed to the enemy,” it is stated at mark 24:15.

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference."

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com

Human-made No record of this work says a model made it. What this means.

Archive

Internet Archive, in Ephemeral films

Licence or status

The Internet Archive states none for this item.

Language

English

Who can watch

The archive gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from its collection and subjects. How films are placed