Product Review

This book documents and tells the history of the establishment and growth of the Coastal Surveillance Force, Task Force 71. This grew to Task Forces 115, 116 and 117. My research for this history came from veterans serving in this period and the documentation of the Commander Naval Forces Vietnam Monthly Summaries. These documents did not exist before January 1966, so the early period was dependent on veterans and the author’s personal knowledge. This book is dedicated to those pioneers of the Small Boat Navy’s very successful war against a stubborn enemy. It is important to point out that this is a book of fiction and all of the names of the characters are fictional. This was used to make the significant incidents more alive while retaining the accurate details of the action. Much of the COMNAVFORV summaries were also paraphrased for effect while retaining the factual accounts stated in the records. The photographs and map images are placed at the end of the chapters in the book to help former military and non-military folks identify with the many units and terms used in the text. The images and photographs are either my personal items or from the COMNAVFORCESVIETNAM Monthly Summaries.