Emailed letter from Alan R. Perry
I served in MinRon 11 Detachment Alfa (the precursor to MinDiv 112) from February 11, 1968 to February 12, 1969. Name changed to MinDiv 112 (and MinDiv 113) in, as I recall, May of 1968. I was a 24 year old EN1 at the time, and was assigned to several boats during my year. I started out on an MSB with POIC QMC Brawley, Bosun’ BM2 Herrington, myself as engineer (relieving EN2 “Beaucoup” Neal), EM3 Allen, EMFN Drake (training), SN Tom Diaz, and another SN who’s name escapes me at the moment.
In May 1968 I was selected to relieve a departing ENC at the SubDet 1 in Danang and was up there on MSB-19, 30 and 50 for about five months during which time we were deployed to sweep the Cua Viet river at the DMZ on several occasions. We had a couple of AMMIs there in Danang with a plywood hooch we’d built for a combination shop and duty-section berthing (only seven bunks as I recall). We actually lived at Camp Tein Sha in the newer barracks by the tennis courts. BMCS Thompson and later QMCS Sarcinelli were the OIC’s of the Danang “SubDet One” while I was there. I have the names of many of my crew-mates, but are forgetting them at an alarming rate nowdays!
I returned to Nha Be shortly after my Sydney R&R in October 1968 (?) and was assigned to 16, 31, and 32 boat before I rotated home.
Sad thing about MineRon 11 Det ‘A’, and MinDiv 112 and 113 is NOBODY outside of Nha Be-Danang apparently ever heard about us! Little is written. I tried to follow what was going on there after I got back (went to recruiting duty in Concord, Ca) but Navy Times never even mentioned them, so I have no idea when they shut down operations. I know that the upcoming “Vietnamization” (turning the war over to the South Vietnamese) had been announced, but we were told by QMCS Sarcinelli that the MSBs were too complex, and would never be turned over to SVN.
I’m in contact with a couple of the guys I was with there, and would like to hear from others.
Thanks,
Alan R. Perry, ENC, USN (Ret)
