Distinguished Military Units: US Coast Guard Squadron One
Despite the escalating commitment of US military consultants, Special Forces, and other resources beginning in 1955, by 1964, the Vietnam Conflict was going poorly for South Vietnamese forces. More to the point, enemy tactics were not well understood, leaving the military without an effective response. Then in February 1965, an Army helicopter accidentally discovered Communist forces infiltrating coastal and interior waterways to supply what would turn out to be one-third of all men and arms. In response, the U.S. “Gulf of Tonkin” resolution authorized on April 29, 1965, empowered President Johnson to wage all-out war against North Vietnam, that same day committing the Coast Guard to wartime service for the first time since World War II and giving birth to USCG Squadron One. Serving with distinction until the eventual transfer of Squadron assets to the Republic of Vietnam in 1970, the squadron thwarted enemy infiltrations and earned multiple combat commendations but is perhaps better known for heroism as the unwitting victim of a friendly fire engagement.
Squadron One's story began with a collaboration between the Secretary of the Navy and Treasury Department officials (responsible for peacetime Coast Guard operations) based on the need to halt enemy waterway infiltrations. The Navy had contrived Operation Market Time for this purpose, a mission ideally suited for Coast Guard assets utilizing larger, 82-foot Point Class cutters along the coast and smaller, more rapid River Patrol Boats inland. Squadron One was conceived to execute coastal operations comprised of twenty-six cutters and organized into three divisions, 11, 12, and 13.
Division 11 - Point Young, Point Glover, Point Garnet, Point Clear, Point Mast, Point Comfort, Point Grey, Point Banks, Point Marone
Division 12 - Point Caution, Point Arden, Point Orient, Point Lomas, Point Dume, Point Gammon, Point Welcome, Point Ellis
Division 13 - Point League, Point Partridge, Point Jefferson, Point White, Point Slocum, Point Kennedy, Point Hudson, Point Grace, Point Cypress
Racing to turn the tide of war, in April 1965, both Coast Guard personnel and ships were transferred to operational control of the Navy, though both required a significant makeover. Originally built for the purpose of search and rescue operations and law enforcement, the ships initially accommodated a crew of eight and sported unmistakable Coast Guard colors and markings. While the boats underwent retrofit to handle an expanded crew of thirteen, communication systems, and enhanced firepower (four M2 machine guns and mortars), sailors underwent extensive stateside training involving weapons systems, survival training, patrol procedures, combat indoctrination, and a variety of related subjects.
Ultimately, Squadron One was commissioned at the Alameda, California Coast Guard base on May 27th with the Point Class ships then transported to Subic Bay, the Philippines, to reunite with their crews. After further training and two-week sea trials, by the end of July Divisions, 11 and 12 were operationally combat-ready and reported to their duty stations at An Thoi and Da Nang, respectively. Similarly, in February 1966, Division 13 arrived at its duty station at Cat Lo.
Upon arrival, the Point Class cutters began combat patrols to enforce the intended blockade of the coast and interior shoreline. The Operation Market Time rules of engagement allowed any vessel except warships to be stopped, boarded, and searched within three miles of the coastline, and from three to twelve miles offshore, both identification and a declaration of intent could be demanded. Outside the twelve-mile limit, only vessels of South Vietnamese origin could be stopped, boarded, and searched. Overflying the whole area were Navy aircraft flying predetermined tracks and reporting any traffic to five Coastal Surveillance Centers. Reported movements by suspicious vessels were relayed to the nearest patrol boats whose duty it was to search for contraband and persons without proper identification.
Almost immediately, while attempting to board a trawler Point Orient, came under fire from several shore batteries. By returning fire, the crew became the first Coast Guard unit to engage the enemy in Vietnam, but further, this encounter led to Coast Guard boats being painted deck gray to increase the effectiveness of night operations but eliminating easy visual identification.
By September 1965, the Squadron hit its stride, and in a single day, Point Glover made the first capture of a Vietcong junk while later that same day assisting Point Marone in a second seizure. In both cases, the Viet Cong refused boarding, opened fire, and after combat engagements caught fire and sunk in shallow waters. Subsequent salvage recovered rifles, ammunition, hand grenades, documents, and money. But, despite the success of these and similar engagements, the crews could not foresee what 1966 would bring…or from where.
Beginning in late February 1966 and extending into April, the Navy implemented Operation Jackstay, an effort to deny food, water, and ammunition to VC operating in the Rung Sat Special Zone. With increased Coast Guard patrols, enemy activity escalated, bringing non-stop ground fire from VC shore locations and the most intense naval combat operations of the war. Following the completion of Jackstay, trawler incursions continued with armaments now measured in tons, and USCG cutters found themselves teaming with other ships (e.g., the destroyer escort USS Briter and destroyer USS Hoverfield), together with Air Force jets to attack enemy vessels and shoreline installations. Unwittingly, this and other developments over the prior year led, in part, to a truly tragic friendly fire event.
On August 11, 1966, Poin
t Welcome was patrolling immediately south of the Demilitarized Zone. At 03:40, the cutter was mistaken by an Air Force Forward Controller as an enemy vessel, resulting in a B-57 and two F-4 fighters being redirected from an attack on several VC trawlers just north of point Welcome's position. The Officer of the Deck (OOD), LTJG Ross Bell, and Junior OOD Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Mark Mckenney watched as enemy boats were assaulted in the distance, but as Point Welcome began to steam south, the jets engaged in illuminating and repeatedly strafing the cutter. The ensuing hailstorm of 20 mm bullets ignited a fire on the fantail, killed the Captain (LTJG David Bostrom) and Engineman Second Class, Jerry Phillips, severely wounded the OOD and nine others. From the outset of the attack, Chief Boatswain's Mate Richard Patterson took command to extinguish fires, radio the attack, lead the crew in caring for the injured, and initiate defensive maneuvers. While the pilots began bombing runs, earlier radio calls were relayed to the Air Force and terminated the attack, but Point Welcome's hell was not yet over. Believing the hull had been breached, Patterson gently beached the cutter, paired able-bodied sailors with the wounded, and ordered abandon ship. As rubber boats approached the beach, machine-gun fire erupted from shore. Unbelievably, Vietnamese forces located north of the cutter mistook them for VC while Viet Cong forces to the south properly identified Point Welcome as American, catching the crew in a deadly crossfire. With Point Orient and Point Caution arriving to effect rescue operations in response to earlier radio calls, survivors were pulled from the water.
The horror experienced by the crew of Point Welcome is amplified by the friendly fire component of that combat, not once but twice. The mere notion of lives lost to misidentification and failed communication protocols, bad intel, assumptions, failed training…, or countless other sources give us pause and often evokes avoidance behavior that clouds the valor and leadership demonstrated by those involved. Tragic as it is, friendly fire has been documented involving all conflicts and nations, predating the American Revolution and beyond, though realistically underreported. In one example, a World war II occurrence came to light only after a pilot's death in the 1990s when it was revealed in his last will and testimony. Comparatively speaking, World War II demonstrates the highest known instance of friendly fire (88), followed by the War in Afghanistan (27), World War I (17), Vietnam War (15), Iraq War (14), and the Persian Gulf War (10). For his actions and heroism on August 11th, Chief Patterson was awarded a Bronze Star with the combat "V" device.
The balance of Squadron One's time in-country was comprised largely of defending the US blockade, rescuing downed airmen, providing emergency medical aid, and conducting goodwill campaigns with Vietnamese villages. In early 1968 enemy incursions and combat, activity peaked as Viet Cong forces bolstered the failing Tet Offensive but afterward settled to a level sustainable by RVN forces. Accordingly, Squadron One began training initiatives leading to the eventual transfer of Coast Guard cutters to the Vietnamese Navy in April 1970. During Squadron One's five years of service, the success of the blockade served to change the dynamics of the Vietnam War, forcing the North Vietnamese to use a more costly and time-consuming route down the Ho Chi Minh trail to supply their forces. In doing so, Squadron One boats cruised over four million miles, inspected over 280,000 vessels, and earned 9 Presidential Unit Citations, 3 Navy Unit Commendations, 18 Navy Meritorious Unit Commendations, Vietnam Service Medal, 26 Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm, and 26 Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medals.