PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
The following Reflection represents RM2 Michael A. Harris’s legacy of their military service from 1967 to 1971. If you are a Veteran, consider preserving a record of your own military service, including your memories and photographs, on Togetherweserved.com (TWS), the leading archive of living military history. The Service Reflections is an easy-to-complete self-interview, located on your TWS Military Service Page, which enables you to remember key people and events from your military service and the impact they made on your life.
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I served in the Navy Mobile Riverine Force (Task Force 117) in the Mekong Delta from July 1968 to July 1969.
In October 1968, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Commander Naval Forces, Vietnam (COMNAVFORV) launched Operation SEALORDs. The purpose was to interdict enemy soldiers and supplies from coming into South Vietnam from Cambodia.
I was a Radioman/.50 Caliber Machine Gunner on Armored Troop Carrier 152-1 or T-152-1. It was an old ironclad LCM-6 that was modified to carry U.S. and Vietnamese infantry troops.
My boat, and T-152-10, were “Chopped” to (Task Force 116) to work with PBR crews down at Rach Soi in the lower delta. Our task was to patrol the rivers and canals for Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army soldiers. We experienced quite a bit of action with the loss of Tango 10’s SN Barry M. Barber on December 27, 1968.
There was a small contingent of U.S. Army personnel at the small Rach Soi base. I do not recall why they were there. Perhaps advising South Vietnamese Army units.
The base was small with a “U Shaped” area off the river with concrete abutments. One day I looked across the water and saw a soldier handling a monkey. I couldn’t resist so I headed over. The little guy was so cute, but he could get mean and bite. The soldier had built him a cage, but the monkey always wanted to be out and about.
I learned quickly that when the monkey’s eyebrows raised way up he was ticked and ready to bite. If he did bite me, I would rather gently sock him in the forehead. That didn’t help much. It just made him madder.
This monkey would drink beer with us as you can see in the photo. We would leave a small amount in the can, and he’d drink it down. Guess what? He was mean drunk! The biting would be more aggressive, but we tolerated it. When he was put in his cage, he was often so inebriated that he couldn’t climb around like normal.
One day, someone brought a baby monkey in who was the same species. The adult monkey took him in, hugged him and snuggled with him. We would play with the little guy. After a while, his eyebrows went up and he’d bite too.
The monkeys, along with the children, provided us with some respite during a difficult time. I will never forget the Drunk Monkey…!
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