My name is Bill
Bremer, and, as LTJG Bremer, from September 1970 to March 1971, I had
the privilege of being the OIC of Boat Support Unit One’s Mobile
Support Team Two, Detachment Golf. MST-2 Det. Golf provided boat
support to U.S. Navy SEALs and South Vietnamese Navy SEALs (LDNNs)
operating in and around Dung Island from the Long Phu Intermediate
Base near where the Bassac River meets the South China Sea in the
Mekong Delta of Vietnam.
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In the beginning of 2002 I recovered -- after twenty years in storage -- a box
that contained the remains of my Navy files, some photographs, and my Boat
Support Unit One plaque. What struck me is how little I remembered, and I
was deeply saddened when I looked at the picture of my detachment that graces
the home page and realized that I couldn’t remember these fine men’s names.
Thanks to this site, Barry Strausbaugh of Julliet Platoon, Tom Collinson of
MST-2 Det. Golf, and some great blind luck, my memory has been refreshed --I now
have their names and have found three of them.
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While my original idea of
setting up this web site was to memorialize my own detachment, as I have
proceeded, I've learned that I need and want to tell the more complete story of
MST-2 and the SEALs they served in Vietnam from 1967-1971. For example, one
story that dominated my stay in Vietnam and my memories since then is the story
of Mike Collin’s bad luck X-Ray platoon and the brave operating members of MST-2
Detachment Alpha who supported them and who suffered so many casualties.
I feel so fortunate that
through this site, I've reconnected with Johnny McClaren, who lost a leg in the
ambush on 28 February 1971 and who I last saw in the Ben Thuy hospital on 1
March. He is one of the true heroes of MST-2, and it's an honor to now include
him among those who I've met through this site that I now consider my friend.
There are many other MST
stories that should be told. These stories include the story of the men
who were there at the beginning of MST-2 (“Project Zulu”) and the stories of
people like Admiral Robert J. Natter, who was awarded a Silver Star and is now
the Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, and people like Father Ed McMahon, who
acted as the SEAL/MST-2 Chaplain and is now the Chaplain for the New York
Yankees. Maybe even as important as telling stories, I want this web site to be
a means for bringing people back in contact with former comrades.
As with any such project, there are numerous people to thank. My first angel was
Dennis J. Cummings, of Real War Stories
and author of The Men
Behind the Trident: SEAL Team One in Vietnam. Others who have provided
considerable assistance to date are
Jim Born, T.L. (Bo) Bosiljevac,
the author of SEALs: UDT/SEAL Operations in Vietnam, BMC Jim Comer, U.S.
Navy (Ret.), Commander Joe DeFloria, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Charles H "Chuck" Karayan,
Commander Bill Salisbury, U.S. Navy (Ret.),
RADM Steven G. Smith, Bob Stoner,
James S. Thomas, Dan Withers of
warboats.org
and ptfnasty.com, and Jim
Gray GMCM (CC) Ret. Please forgive any omissions. The future
of this history collection
will depend upon others who were there to share their memories.
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