Comments and photo from Jim Verrier
[ Welcome aboard, Jim. Thanks for bringing this new bit of history to
our attention. ]
October 31, 2000
I recently located your very comprehensive web site on the internet. What
a great feeling it was to finally relive some of the times I had with
those remarkable PTF boats, and the crews who knew them inside and out. As
a point of clarification, I'd like to provide some info on my former
assignment with MST-Danang from '69 to '70. I was selected to activate the
"22" boat and outfit it in Subic for shipping to Pearl Harbor in
January, 1970. I had received orders to accompany the boat to Hawaii for
use in "Project Harpoon" which involved participating with
engineers from China Lake Naval Weapons Center in developing the guidance
system for the Harpoon missile. Naturally, my crew and I and the Trumpy
were the target. I set up a temporary MST detachment at the sub piers in
Pearl Harbor in February, 1970 and ran the boat daily to the north shore
of Molokai, just off the leper colony. This mission lasted until late May
or June when we had the craft loaded onto the LPH "Iwo Jima",
which was returning from picking up the Apollo 13 astronauts. It was
transported to San Diego, CA by the "Iwo Jima" and offloaded at
BSU-1.
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Attached is a photo of a plaque (sorry, it's a little
fuzzy) given to me by the engineers we supported on Project Harpoon. |
I'm not sure if it matters for the purpose of your notes on dates of
activation, but I thought I'd send this along for your action as you see
fit.
By the way, I just this week returned from Buffalo, NY where I visited
the Naval and Military Park and relived some of my old times with the
"17" boat which, if I may say so, has weathered the last 30+
years very well. Thanks for the opportunity to catch up on these years in
a real way.
Sincerely,
Jim Verrier
(formerly LT, USNR)
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