Swift Boat Down

James Steffes, the author of Swift Boat Down, was among the last people to see the dead sailors of PCF-19 while they still lived. In his memory and dreams they still have their hands raised in a wave and smiles on their faces as their boat roars off to its long-ago but not entirely forgotten destiny.

Steffes, who retired from the U.S. Navy as a Chief Engineman after 26 years service, has written an important book about his Vietnam experience. Like so many, he has never been able to extricate himself from the being there. Unlike the vast majority, he ably put his writing skill to use, knowingly, methodically, as if repairing an exploded engine with missing, battle damaged, even intentionally sabotaged parts.

In the beginning we are given a couple of chapters about crew training, duties and expectations. Repetitious as to routine, that may serve to show the unfamiliar reader with just how routine a routine might become, even in a hot fire zone.

Matter-of-fact, there is little discussion of the sights and smells, indigenous people or commentary about their lives in the aftermath of Tet. Likely this is because he was only just arrived in-country and barely had time to check in before he became embroiled in what is surely one of the pivotal events of his life.

The author is generous with his mates, but sketchy as to looks, talents (except for the cook) and personality, and with himself as well. Quasi-official re-telling of wartime events tend to be 'just-the-facts, Mam' in nature, much like the logs, messages and diaries they are based upon.

Many years after the 'incident' Steffes begins researching this book. He does his homework, revisiting Vietnam and those scarcely changed haunts, interviewing soldiers, sailors and marines, even Vietnamese fishermen who had their own memories from different vantage points and personal memories, prejudices and loyalties.

To augment those eye-witness memories he provides logs and message traffic gleaned via the Freedom of Information Act, sorely needed because so many government, especially military and CIA, records were removed from the internet after 11 September 2001.

Perhaps most important for those who served in so select a group, Swift Boat sailors were able to reunite and establish their own organizations. Comparing notes, they found serious disparities between their own and official accounts.

Chief Petty Officer Steffes' contention is that the Navy's investigation into the naval engagement of 15-16-17 June 1968 was flawed, perhaps even covered up by the Department of Defense, that those killed in action are dead as a result of enemy action, not 'friendly fire' as was officially decided. After all, subsequent actions show, the dead and wounded were awarded the Purple Heart Medal and other citations for bravery, a thing not normally done for 'accidents'.

But there may be a far more personal reason it matters to so many. Recent studies of combat trauma seem to show that soldiers are notably less likely to suffer from long-term PTSD if their psychological and physical wounds are caused by enemy action than if they are the result of 'friendly fire' …

Steffes' book is a must for the library of any who are interested in the Vietnam Experience, the Brown Water Navy or the fog of war. It deserves to be there as his own story and as an alternative to official narratives, especially these fifty years later when political forces try to rewrite the war's history from beginning to end.

Highly recommended.