SHALLOWS

War in the Shallows
Then, when I step aboard, it’s my boat and
stays my boat until I get off and then it’s
your boat.” That cleared the air for a while,
but after the two men had their next spat,
Bergin threw down the gauntlet. He stared
into Carver’s steely blue eyes and said, “We
can either duke it out or arm wrestle.”
Carver chose to arm wrestle. Fearless in
the face of Carver’s bulging bicep and the
naked girl tattooed on his forearm, Bergin
soundly defeated his boatswain’s mate and
then, according to Bergin, the two men
bonded as friends. They both shared a love
of the sea and had an aggressive attitude
towards the Vietnamese. Combat on 15
July solidified this bond. “The intercept,
according to Herrera, “bolstered Bergin’s
Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Bobby Don “Boats” reputation for being an aggressive commander
and I think Carver took great
Carver, right, at an awards ceremony in Vietnam.
pride in serving under him.” 220
On 6 December 1967, PCF-79 was conducting a speaker broadcast mission south of Cape
Batangan and not far from Coastal Division 16. Many TF 115 sailors resented these missions
because it meant traveling close to the shore and broadcasting their position to the enemy. 221
“The speakers were so loud and cacophonous,” noted one sailor, “that you often could not hear
the discharge from a sniper rifle.” 222 Bergin, however, was not one to shy away from a dangerous
mission and agreed to take on the assignment. The boat ran along the coast most of the morning
playing a pre-taped message urging the Viet Cong to surrender under the Chieu Hoi mandate.
Around noon the boat pulled in a mile offshore for lunch, and while the men silently munched
on their sandwiches, an albatross circled the boat and landed. Carver said it was a bad-luck
omen. 223 The crew finished lunch and headed back to the beach to resume its PSYOP mission.
Bergin told the coxswain to start the first run 50 yards from the beach and then back off 25–50
yards for each additional run. At 1400, Bergin received a call from an Army Piper Cub forward
air controller, asking if he wanted to take four to five black-clad males on the beach under fire.
Since the area was a free-fire zone, no higher authorization was required, but Bergin still hesitated.
“Since they did not have any weapons on them, I thought they might just be fishermen
and said no.” 224 Carver then grabbed a pair of binoculars and closely examined the beach. “I
think there may be bunkers there,” he told Bergin. As he laid the binoculars on the aft .50-caliber/81mm
mortar for Bergin to use, the Vietnamese opened fire. Carver shoved Bergin to the
deck to get him out of the line of fire and began firing the .50-caliber. 225
U.S. Navy
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