August 20th 2020

[klondike]

Will be 48 year since I stood at attention, saluted and took one step backwards,  and left the USN. Doesn't seem possible.
Served on board 3 ships, made two west pac cruises to the gun line ,part of the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club.
Wishing all my brothers well,
Fair winds, & calm Seas.

[docbob]

In 1967-68 I was serving in 5th Special Forces Group in the Mekong Delta as an advisor to a Vietnamese Ranger Battalion.  I owe a debt of gratitude to the USS Orleck and their 5 inch gun batteries for the fire support they provided to us.  That may have been a couple of years before you were onboard but you can be justifiably proud to have been part of the crew of that vessel.

[klondike]

I am very proud Sir ! To have been part of the ships crew.
The last west pac l made with her was 71/72 , the Destroyers would serve 30 days on the gun line, then be relieved by another DD,  it's around the clock work even when your not standing watch.
Every night you would be meeting a supply ship , one night
All hands working party taking on supplys , fuel/ oil / food.
The next night you meet another ship , and it's all hands on deck, to hump 5" 38 RAP shells to the forward and aft magazine,  .
The Orleck spent 90 days on the gun ,with out being relieved
On my last cruise,  when we were supposed to be relieved,
The DD coming out to replace us , had a boiler rupture,  so it was sent back to port for repairs.  We did there 30 days,  then
When it came time to be relieved again, we were caught in a typhoon, and the ship coming out the relieve us had been hit by a big wave, coming over her bow, and it bent the front gun
Mount, and that put her out of commission,  so we did her 30 days.
Then we finally got a Destroyer out to replace us.
The USS Orleck DD-886 was awarded Top Gun honors
True out the entire Vietnam war. For firing more 5" round than any other ship in the fleet. She has a well deserved reputation. 
I know I humped my share of those rounds, and laying in my rack when I got a chance to rest, I would hear those guns fire
And I would pray that everyone of them found there mark.
And none fall short ,
Iam so glade you came home SIR ! God bless you.

[klondike]

69/70, I was onboard the USS Klondike AR-22, on that cruise
We pulled into Vung Tau,  I was on the ships landing party.
When we anchor near shore,  the landing party would patrol the perimeter of the ship watching for junks/ Vietnamese boats to come to close to out ship, and a diver slip over the side, and try to reach the ship to attach explosives to the hull. Wile their we were called to General quarters, for incoming rounds at 12:00 , I just got off watch 3 Artillery rounds just missed our ship, come to find out it was friendly fire. Some unit just striped and cleaned a Artillery peace, and fired off a few rounds out into the harbor, not knowing who was out there. In the pitch dark.
I hope you find peace Sir!

[WEM144]

Thank you both for your service ! 

[Rickhem]

I'll second that, thank you both for your service!

[klondike]

Your most welcome, gentlemen

[DXT]

Yes , thank you for your service!

[Appleman]

Thank you gentleman for your service. My farther and Uncle Skipper were officers in the USN and my grandfather was ship fireman ( he always said that when there was a fire on board everyone was a fireman) in WW2 in the USN.  When my father asked me a question growing up I could only respond in 2 ways standing directly looking at him in the eye-- yes sir or no sir.  My friends always poked fun at me for this conduct but looking back on it now it made a lot of sense. My limit with my mom was only yes mom.

[klondike]

And Thank You, if you know the name  of the ship, and the hull number,  there's a great site were you can look up history
And the what happened to the ship, and even lookup crewmen.
All my ships are gone,  except the  Orleck,  that's been turned into a floating Museum, down in lake Charles Louisiana.
Hullnumber.com

[gunner]

I served on board the USS BUTTE AE 27 92-95 Navy 90-95 Remember years ago looked up the ship and watched on YouTube it being sunk by the navy for target practice to make a reef. Lol. Still spend a few weeks a year with a few of my shipmates.

[klondike]

That's cool, I ran into a guy on another site, that was a shipmate of mine.
Also had my heart broke. I've had a camp up on lake champlain since 94, two years ago, I got the local paper at the gas station,  one of only 2 station in this small town.
Looked at the obituaries,  and a local man died who's wright up mentioned how proud he was to be on board the USS Orleck.  And I was floored I have been up there for 25 years,  and was most likely standing next to this man gasing up his truck. I would have given anything to swap sea story's with this guy, who served onboard, long before me.