Dirty Water - America’s Secret War in Vietnam

Video Description

The Americans had been in Vietnam long enough to know that when monsoon season hit, the rules of the game changed. For months, rain grounded aircraft and turned roads into rivers of mud. Only one group could still strike through the Mekong Delta’s drowned arteries: the gunboats of the Mobile Riverine Force. Armored Troop Carriers pushed forward through the narrow waterways, their hulls packed to the brim with platoon infantry and M113 armored vehicles. Decks bristled with .50-caliber machine guns and flamethrowers, ready to incinerate any Viet Cong bunker they found along the way. But in Vietnam, the enemy wasn’t the only threat. The very river turned against them in an instant. The water narrowed and shallowed until the force’s boats could barely move. America’s last amphibious weapon was now compromised. Yet, sailors refused to surrender. The Mobile Riverine Force always pushed forward, even if it had to fight against the Delta itself.