SHALLOWS

War on the Rivers: Game Warden, 1966–1967
When I got my senses and returned fire, I noticed that the boat was veering to shoreline
and that no one was alive. I saw Lieutenant Witt behind the coxswain. Both his limbs
were hanging by a thread. . . . There was nothing left of his front. I then went into the
cockpit and I was still catching a lot of shit [fire from the shoreline]. I picked up Castleberry
and he fell apart in my hands. He was completely gone. 232
Devlin removed Castleberry’s remains from the coxswain’s position and placed them
next to Witt. He then pulled back on the left throttle and swung the boat towards the center of
the river. Using the throttles to steer the boat, Devlin maneuvered the boat away from the kill
zone. The initial recoilless rifle round claimed Witt, Leazer, and Castleberry, and subsequent
machine-gun fire killed Quinn at the M60 position amidships.
As for the other boat, PBR-106, it had followed PBR-101 into the kill zone, firing furiously
at shore positions until it too took a hit from a recoilless rifle round. The round exploded amidships,
decapitating Troung Huong Chau, an accompanying Vietnamese Maritime Police officer,
lacerating the thumb of Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Daniel Paul Artman, who was manning the
M60, and sending shrapnel into the chest and arms of Engineman 3rd Class Warren G. Bolen,
who was on the after .50-caliber gun. Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Gary Stouffer, the boat captain,
escaped injury and managed to maneuver the boat at high speed out of the kill zone while
Gunner’s Mate (Guns) Seaman Charles A. Davidson Jr. expended nearly all of his ammunition
in the forward turret at targets on the shoreline. During the egress Davidson radioed PBR-101,
telling it that they had been “hit bad.” Without any call sign, Devlin replied, “I’m all alone.” Upon
hearing this transmission, two other PBRs (-110 and -104) sped toward the scene, but PBR-110
suffered engine trouble, compelling it to proceed on just one engine.
At 0740, PBR-104 rendezvoused with PBRs -106 and -101, and the three units proceeded
to Ben Tre, about 35 minutes away, to evacuate the wounded and the dead. Lieutenant (j.g.)
Donovan had just come off patrol when the fight erupted and was immediately summoned to
the My Tho TOC. “There was lots of confusion and shock,” he recalled. “Nothing like this had
ever happened.” It was the deadliest ambush to date for Operation Game Warden.
Donovan would later call for an investigation into Witt’s decision to take the PBRs into
the area. The TF 116 Operations Order specifically stated that except in self-defense TF 116
units “may not initiate any attack on ground forces or watercraft without specific authority
of CTG 116.1 or CTG 116.2.” River Division 53 rejected the recommendation, but it did not
confer a heroism award on Witt for that patrol. Posthumously, Witt would receive a Silver
Star for another action on 19 May 1967 and the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat
V for his service as officer in charge of River Section 531 from March to May 1967. 233 On a
subtle level, the decision not to confer a valor award on Witt for the 24 May action may have
been an admission by the chain of command that he showed poor judgment that day because
the other sailors on his boat, killed in similar circumstances, received valor awards for the
action. Castleberry and Quinn received Bronze Stars with Combat V. Devlin ultimately
received a Silver Star. 234
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