Say Goodbye to Saigon: Inspired by the True Story of an Actual Event

By Jerry Craig Gatch

It is April 1975. The long Vietnam War is ending as the North Vietnam Army moves in on Saigon, the capitol city of the South. Millions of South Vietnam citizens have fled their homeland ahead of the advance of ruthless NVA soldiers.

In the final days, Bull Saturn, his beautiful Vietnamese wife and a crew of three close friends on Guam have devised a plan to evacuate her extended family from Saigon Harbor by way of Malaysia and the Philippines. Their unusual vessel of choice is a large ocean going tugboat. Accomplishing the mission leads them into a gun battle with a NVA patrol boat and a number of other unexpected dangers which must be overcome.

This story was inspired by the true adventure of an American man living on Guam.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499067316

Jerry Craig Gatch

Jerry Gatch has lived and worked in fourteen different cities and countries. He lived in Las Vegas for twelve years in the seventies and early eighties. His stories are inspired by people encountered and events experienced in the places he lived. Today, Jerry is a retired CPA living in Southeast Texas. His first novel, “Say Goodbye to Saigon,” was very well received, and “Las Vegas Juice” is his second attempt at fiction. Look for additional stories in the future based on Jerry’s time spent in the Texas oil business as well as living in the beautiful islands of Micronesia the Caribbean and Asia.

Book preview

SAY GOODBYE TO SAIGON

A Novel

Inspired by the True Story of an Actual Event

Jerry Craig Gatch

Copyright © 2014 by Jerry Craig Gatch.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014915524

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-4990-6730-9

Softcover   978-1-4990-6732-3

eBook   978-1-4990-6731-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 08/27/2019

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

650903

Contents

Historical Prologue

Chapter One South China Sea – Dawn April 26, 1975

Chapter Two Sixty Nautical Miles From Saigon Harbor – Morning April 27, 1975

Chapter Three Twenty Nautical Miles From Saigon Harbor – Afternoon April 27, 1975

Chapter Four Mouth Of Saigon Harbor – Dawn April 28, 1975

Chapter Five Saigon Harbor Tugboat Terminal – Noon April 28, 1975

Chapter Six On Shore In South Vietnam – Afternoon April 28, 1975

Chapter Seven Saigon Coastline – Early Morning April 29, 1975

Chapter Eight South China Sea – Early Morning April 30, 1975

Chapter Nine South China Sea – Afternoon April 30, 1975

Chapter Ten South China Sea Southbound – 9 PM April 30, 1975

Chapter Eleven Far South China Sea – Early Morning May 1, 1975

Chapter Twelve Kampung Balai Port, West Malaysia – Afternoon May 1, 1975

Chapter Thirteen South China Sea Eastbound – 5 AM May 2, 1975

Chapter Fourteen South China Sea Eastbound – 11:30 AM May 2, 1975

Chapter Fifteen Eastern South China Sea – Dawn May 3, 1975

Chapter Sixteen Kota Kinabalu Harbor – 5 PM May 3, 1975

Chapter Seventeen Kota Kinabalu Memorial Hospital – 9 PM May 3, 1975

Chapter Eighteen Kota Kinabalu, Borneo East Malaysia – May 4, 1975

Chapter Nineteen Kota Kinabalu – Ten Days Later

Chapter Twenty Enroute to Kuala Lumpur - Two More Weeks Later

Chapter Twenty One Kota Kinabalu – Another Week Later

Chapter Twenty Two Kota Kinabalu – Another Week Later

Chapter Twenty Three Kota Kinabalu Tugboat Pier – The Next Monday 4 AM

Chapter Twenty Four Entering The Sulu Sea – Morning of Second Voyage Day

Chapter Twenty Five Siasi Naval Station, Sulu Island Philippines - Noon of Third Voyage Day

Chapter Twenty Six Siasi Naval Station, Philippines - 10 AM of Fourth Voyage Day

Chapter Twenty Seven Off Shore Of Manila Bay – 10 AM June 29, 1975

Chapter Twenty Eight Subic Bay U.S. Naval Facility, Philippines - 12:45 PM June 29, 1975

Epilogue Guam – Five Years Later

For Spike Nasmyth and Bau Phung

HISTORICAL PROLOGUE

The beautiful country of Vietnam was recognized as two sovereign nations after WWII much the same as Korea and Germany. Chinese backed North Vietnam was classic Communism under their iconic leader Ho Chi Minh. South Vietnam embraced free enterprise and Democracy. They elected their Presidents and Parliament and the country became prosperous.

From the beginning, Ho Chi Minh was determined to conquer South Vietnam and unite the two Vietnams into one country under Communism. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) defended against attacks from the Communists with sporadic success for many years.

By the late 1950s, America had Special Forces advisors in South Vietnam to train the ARVN and fight with them when needed. American involvement continued to grow under four different U.S. presidents. By 1968, the number of American servicemen in Vietnam had reached over 600,000. Billions were spent to build massive U.S. bases, ports and depots.

In 1972 when President Nixon was re-elected, public opposition in the U.S. to the Vietnam War was at its peak. Millions of people became involved in public anti-war demonstrations across the country. Fulfilling his campaign promise, Nixon withdrew all American forces from Vietnam by August 1973. America lost 60,000 of her sons and daughters in that long and futile war. The overwhelmed ARVN troops were left to defend South Vietnam alone.

After the Americans withdrew, the superior forces of the North conquered and massacred their way through the jungles, rivers and highlands of South Vietnam as they approached their ultimate goal – the metropolitan capitol city of Saigon. As 1975 dawned, it was becoming obvious that Saigon would soon fall and the Communists would win the war. Their brutality was legendary. Anyone known to have had any association with America or the ARVN, even as a floor sweeper, would be executed or sent to reeducation camps.

South Vietnamese citizens began to abandon their country and leave by any means possible. Roughly three million frightened South Vietnamese citizens eventually became refugees, many literally running for their life. About half of them sought and received political asylum in the U.S. The rest were granted asylum in different countries around the world. The majority of refugees escaped by sea in a multitude of different types of vessels. They became known as the Vietnam Boat People. Their beloved Saigon did fall on April 30, 1975, ending the thirty year conflict and erasing South Vietnam as a country.

This is the story of a daring last-minute rescue of 370 of those refugees by a group of courageous American civilians. It also relates the incredible personal escape sacrifices made by citizens of South Vietnam in the name of freedom. The story was inspired by the true adventure of an American man living on Guam. He is characterized here as Bull.

CHAPTER ONE

South China Sea – Dawn April 26, 1975

Bull Saturn looked out on the ocean from the wheel house of the 110 ft ocean going tugboat they had stolen two nights ago in Manila Harbor. It wasn’t the best boat that Bull had ever piloted; but, it was close and should get the job done.

It had seven small crew cabins in addition to a larger Pilot’s suite. There was a galley and a crew lounge where meals were served and off-hours at sea were passed. The boat had excellent navigation and communication equipment. The outside decks were long and wide. Bull figured they might need every square inch.

The fall of South Vietnam had been assured when U.S. troops pulled out in 1973. Bull and his Vietnamese wife, Leigh Ling, had prepared themselves for this trip ever since. With elements of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) now closing in on the outskirts of Saigon, the fall of the capitol was imminent. Bull, Leigh Ling and their crew of three close friends were on their way to try to evacuate her family while it might still be possible.

Bull had always found the ocean to be comforting no matter the weather, the vessel or the circumstances. Here with no distractions, he could forget for awhile about the atrocities awaiting them only a day ahead in Saigon. Alone on the bridge in the early morning, Bull began to reflect on the childhood that had brought him to this point:

I’m sorry, Pop. I really thought I could do it! I just knew I could.

Sitting at my bedside in the hospital, Pop says, Well, you have always been the hard-headed one, Harry, I’ll give you that. But Boy, twelve years old is not old enough to ride a twelve hundred pound pissed off bull. You should ‘a known that!

But Pop, Jakey double dared me. No way I could walk away from a double dare.

Yeah well, that broken leg and three broken ribs will keep you from walkin’ anywhere for a while I reckon. Tell you one thing, though. Your name ain’t Harry no more. From now on, we’re gonna’ call you Bull, to always remind you of the day you were double stupid.

Our ranch near Alvin, Texas was not large but it contained a training rodeo arena where ranch hands in the area practiced rodeoin’ for their week-end competitions around Alvin and South Texas. I always wanted to be a rodeo cowboy but gettin’ beat up so bad on my first try pretty much changed my thinkin’. And I had a new name. No one at home or school called me Harry anymore. I was Bull, just Bull.

When I was old enough to drive, I would leave the ranch on weekends and drive to Freeport on the Gulf Of Mexico. I was fascinated by the big ocean-going tugboats home-ported there. They were not fast but plenty powerful enough to steer a ten thousand ton oil tanker through difficult passages in bad weather in the open ocean.

When I was just a tyke, Mama would read to me about The Little Engine That Could. I think I can. I think I can. I know I can. I took that lesson with me as I progressed in life. I wasn’t the fastest person alive but I was always strong and would never give up. I thought of the big tugboats in the same way. We were a perfect match.

I sat on that dock at Freeport for hours watching the ocean tugs come and go. I talked to crew members whenever I got a chance and learned a lot about these unique vessels. They were all 100 to 150 feet long and could stay at sea for days at a time. Most of them had two large marine diesel engines that would never give up. The gear ratios delivered maximum power to slowly pushing or pulling anything afloat but they would only allow a cruising speed of somewhere around ten or twelve knots.

I was at the dock on my usual perch one afternoon in May 1961 when a man whom I recognized as the regular Pilot of one of the larger tugboats came up to me. Son, I seen you sittin out here ever’ weekend. You want a job this summer on my boat?

Really? What do I have to do, sir?

Well, you look big and strong for your age. Figured I might give you a try at deckhand. What’s your name anyway.

Bull, sir, just Bull.

I sped back to the ranch and told Pop about my new job. He said, Well at least you’re thinkin’ smart this time. You ain’t cut out for ranchin’ Bull. Go on and learn ’bout them big boats. But dammit Boy, be safe!

During my two summers as a deckhand on the 120-foot tugboat, we mostly towed oil drilling platforms to their off-shore locations in the Gulf. I was hooked. I had found my own rodeo.

As high school graduation approached in 1964…no, ’63, I was beginning to hear about a far away dangerous place called Vietnam. If I did not join the military, I would be drafted within a year and probably go to the infantry.

I visited all the military recruiters in Galveston looking for a branch of service that would allow me to work on the large ocean-going tugboats. The Army recruiter said that the Army operated many such vessels, mostly in the Vietnam theater. I needed to take the Army battery of tests and then he would be able to tell me just what the Army could offer.

A week later, the Army recruiter called, Bull, your test scores qualify you to attend the Army marine Warrant Officer school at Fort Eustis, Virginia. If you complete that six-month school, you will be a licensed tugboat Pilot. How do you like that?

I was so excited that I found it hard to speak. Finally I managed to say, I like that fine, Sergeant, just fine. Where do I sign up? I was secretly ecstatic back then about becoming a real tug Pilot. I never imagined it would wind me up in the shit I’m heading into right now.

Eighteen months after high school, I was in command of an Army big tug working out of Saigon Harbor in Vietnam. Many of my missions took me to Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines. I loved overnighting at Subic because of Olongopo which was just outside the main gate and infested with Filipina bar girls. Yeah, Olongopo was always a good time for the whole crew.

And then I got shot. I remember it like it was yesterday. We were towing a large resupply barge up one of the many rivers that empty into Saigon Harbor and some chicken shit VC shot me in the chest from the river bank. My .50 caliber gunner killed the guy and a couple of his friends but I was seriously wounded.

In 1965, the Army medical capability was not fully staffed up in Saigon yet. The Army hospital relied heavily on South Vietnamese doctors. As I recovered in the hospital from my gunshot wound, the most incredible young woman I had ever known visited me every day. Man, did I fall for that beautiful lady. It made gettin’ shot seem almost worth it! Six months later, with the blessing of her prominent Vietnamese family, Leigh Ling and I were married in a Vietnamese ceremony. But, it was like spittin’ in the wind trying to get American authorities to recognize the marriage so that she could accompany me when I left Vietnam.

Bull snapped from his reminiscing at the wheel when he felt the familiar arms encircle his waist from behind. It was his beautiful wife, the petite Leigh Ling. She stood about 5'1 and weighed ninety pounds soaking wet. Bull was a strapping man at 6'3 and weighed in at a solid 225. With his best friend, Stitch, he worked out regularly on Guam and ran every day. In a word, Bull was a hunk.

As a couple Bull and Leigh Ling were a picture of contrast in physical size, nationality and language. In spirit and values, they were partners in life. She set down a fresh cup of coffee for Bull and stood on her tiptoes as he leaned down so they could kiss on the lips.

You remember when we meet?, Leigh Ling asked in her cute broken English which passed as fluent for any Vietnamese.

Bull smiled at her, Of course I do. Your father took that bullet out of me the day I got shot. He saved my life. When I woke up I thought I was lookin’ at an angel but it was your beautiful face, my future wife. I have loved you, and your family, ever since. So now we are goin’ to evacuate them. I only hope we’re not too late.

Where we are? Leigh Ling asked as she hung on her husband’s shoulder.

About 200 miles from Saigon Harbor. We should be there tomorrow afternoon. Did you get that message to your parents?

Yes, they be at dock by tomorrow morning.

In Saigon, Leigh Ling’s father was a medical doctor, a skilled surgeon and a man of some means. Since America abandoned Vietnam, Dr. Phung had declined several pleadings from Bull and Leigh Ling to leave and come to Guam. His surgical talents were badly needed in Saigon with the Army Of South Vietnam (ARVN) continuing to fight and he refused to leave his patients until the Communists took the city.

Dr. Phung would not subject his family to the barbarians from the North, however, and had agreed to leave when the time came. If he did not escape before Saigon fell, the doctor would, in all likelihood, be publicly tied up and shot in a marketplace because his daughter had married an American GI. Bull could not live with forever knowing that his father-in-law and surely some other family members