I crack the joke all the time that every middle-aged man is assigned a war to obsess over, but on this Veterans Day I’m keenly aware that many were also sent to fight one. Their interest is much more earned and much less academic than mine from the comfort of my writing table, and “thank you for your service” hardly seems adequate.
I was terrified to write a novel about war for fear of getting it wrong, and I doubt my research comes anywhere close to the actual experience. I tried in A Scout is Loyal to convey the emotional sense of serving aboard Swift Boats, and I hope I give no dishonor to any of the 50 killed or 400 wounded during the war, nor to the roughly 3,600 survivors who risked their lives so far from home.
I found a number of compelling resources during my research, and if you’d rather set aside my story about monsters today to learn the real one, these are a perfect place to start:
- Weymouth Symmes talks here about his service aboard the Swifts.
- Swift Boats at War in Vietnam (edited by Guy Gugliotta, John Yeoman, and Neva Sullaway) shares dozens of first-hand accounts from the sailors who served aboard Swifts with amazing details of their courage and ingenuity.
- Dan Daly, Officer in Charge of PCF 76 during the war, wrote White Water, Red Hot Lead about his experiences with his crew at sea and along the rivers that gives a deeply personal (and personable) narrative.
- Combat at Close Quarters by Edward J. Marolda details a wider strategic perspective of the U.S. Navy’s role in Vietnam.
There are many more, and I hope you’ll seek them out.
To the Swift Boat sailors (and every other veteran), thank you. It’s not enough, but I mean it deeply.
