Al Dillon's Memoirs Commanding Officer Washtenaw County 1966-1968

My memories of the Viet Nam War are still vivid for two reasons. It was a time of exciting events whatever the outcome, and I served with the best group of men I knew in thirty years of Naval service. The first part of my memoirs are my recollection of the Riverine War as I knew it from events as we fought as crew members of the best ship I ever served on, the USS Washtenaw County, and from my study of the history of one of our nation’s most controversial conflicts.

The second part is a collection of anecdotes and short stories I have written from memory and the few records I kept over the years. The short stories are based on actual events as I recall them. In some instances I have added fictional names when I could not remember them. I have sometimes embellished the stories with my ideas as to how some things unknown to me may have happened. Initially, I wrote these memoirs as part of a writing course while a student at the University Of California, San Diego in the years 1980 to 1984.

I thank Bob Coombs for the opportunity to get some of my feelings out and for reuniting members of the greatest crew I ever knew, a true “Band of Brothers”

• Riverine Warfare

• Photos

Anecdotes and Short Stories:

• The Body

• The Girls

• The Drowned Man

• The Morticians

• The Party

• Grogan

• A Tribute to Chaplain Nate Loesch

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© 2005, Alfred Dillon