Task Force Clearwater, Cua Viet

The water is dark and muddy. The monsoon rains pour into the river making currents swift, treacherous and strong, grabbing all things, eating away the banks, uprooting plants and sweeping them into the South China Sea. Sand bars shift and change daily like mischievous children playing tag with the boats. Sharks feed near the mouth. Water snakes are seen everywhere.

The Cua Viet River provides food and transportation from dawn until dusk. It is strategic. It is a natural barrier and a vital conduit for supplies.

At the mouth, on the south bank, is a lonely bleak and sandy place. A group of colorless shanties placed at odd angles and apart from each other dot the land. The shacks are bound together by wooden pallets laid end to end forming walkways but leading nowhere. Sandbags are piled high around each hooch. The boundary to the north is the river and to the east is the sea. Concertina wire, tangle foot, and mine fields bound the south and west.

A concrete ramp slopes gently into the river. Men scurry, moving cargo between LSTs, YFUs and LCUs bound south for Da Nang or west to Dong Ha.

East of the ramp are some ammi barges. Alongside are moored landing craft wallowing up and down with the barges as the surf rolls into the river.

Click to expand...