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Episode 2493 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about how the American Vietnam War began with the Nasty Boats. The featured story comes from the Coffee or Die Magazine and is titled, Expansive History of Navy SWCC. It was submitted by Matt Fratus.
Fratus is a history staff writer for Coffee or Die. He prides himself on uncovering the most fascinating tales of history by sharing them through any means of engaging storytelling. He writes for his micro-blog @LateNightHistory on Instagram, where he shares the story behind the image. He is also the host of the Late Night History podcast. When not writing about history, Matt enjoys volunteering for One More Wave and rooting for Boston sports teams.
Coffee or Die Magazine is Black Rifle Coffee Company’s news and lifestyle magazine. Their online platform, coffeeordie.com, was launched in June 2018. In July 2021, they added a quarterly print magazine. They cover stories both about and for the military, first responder, veteran, and coffee enthusiast communities.
In the process of describing the Naval Advisory Detachment that operated in the American Vietnam War, Fratus laid out the beginnings of that War. He told about the origination of the MACV-SOG/NAD and how it used small boats to conduct harassment raids against North Vietnamese installations.
Here is the key point he made in his article, On the night of Aug. 3, 1964, Hawes’ instructed the Nasties to target North Vietnamese radar installations and security bases at the islands of Hon Niu (or Hon Ngu) and Hon Mat (or Hon Me). The Nasties made their assault and destroyed their objectives, but on the way back to Da Nang, North Vietnamese watercraft trailed in pursuit. Hawes’ team outran them. However, the North Vietnamese were committed to retaliation.
According to Hawes, this NVA pursuit team allegedly carried out attacks against the USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy that exploded into the hugely controversial Gulf of Tonkin Incident, which many see as the official start of the Vietnam War.
Listen to episode 2493 and discover more about how the American Vietnam War began with the Nasty Boats.
