Brown Water, Black Berets; Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1988. Third Printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xiv, [2], 426, [6] pages. Illustrations. Map. Glossary. Chronology. Source Notes. Bibliography. Index. Boards scuffed, lower edge of spine worn. Thomas Joshua Cutler is a retired United States naval officer, naval historian, author, and editor. Commissioned an ensign in 1969, he rose through the officer grades until he was commissioned a lieutenant commander in 1979 remaining on active duty until 1990. His active duty included an in-country combat tour during the Vietnam War, command of small craft, service in two aircraft carriers, three destroyers, and a guided-missile cruiser. While at the United States Naval Academy, serving between 1981 and 1990, he was senior lecturer and later, Associate Chairman of the History Department. He was awarded the William P. Clements Award for Excellence in Education (military teacher of the year). At the U.S. Naval Institute he rose to become the Institute's Director of Professional Publishing and held the Gordon England Chair of Professional Naval Literature. Derived from a Kirkus review: Among the unsung heroes of America's involvement in Vietnam were the sailors and coast-guardsmen who manned the small craft that fought (or stood watch) in that country's coastal and inland waterways. Cutler, a combat veteran, rescues these mariners from obscurity with a history that combines vivid tributes to their valor with more formal briefings on how the military developed operational doctrine and vessels suitable for its unconventional flotillas. Back-bereted naval personnel played an active role in the war, patrolling rivers and offshore waters to destroy (or confiscate) supplies bound for the Vietcong, braking infiltration from the North, sweeping mines, and participating in assaults on guerrilla strongholds. Using a variety of shallow-draft craft, the brown-water sailors compiled a distinguished record. They also won a raft of well-deserved decorations, including a Congressional Medal of Honor. A praiseworthy addition to America's Vietnam experience.