Art Paine remembers Tet

 Art Paine is an outstanding designer of sailboats, and a painter.

Unknown to me he was a crewman on an aircraft carrier at a critical moment in the Vietnam war - the 1968 Tet Offensive when the momentum shifted and the Communist-led anti-colonial forces began to have the upper hand.  Art, now a pacifist, remembers that day.

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I put on my dog tags this morning.

I do it every year on this day. Today is Tet.

58 years ago, I stood my watches on the command bridge of the USS Kitty Hawk, at Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf. Stars and Stripes had been talking about the upcoming Lunar New Year and explained that the US had managed to agree upon a short "truce." For us, it meant that we could "stand down." We needed it, having just set the record for continuous days of flight ops.

I reported fifteen minutes early, as required, got the "gouge." A few minutes before midnight. Pitch black. But it was going to be Tet. I was hoping for a relaxed watch for once, because of the truce.

But the "Old Man" was there, in a foul mood. It was very rough, we still had birds in the air waiting to be trapped. Worst, the most valuable aircraft aboard had jumped a chock and rolled into the catwalk aft. There it sat with its tail in the air, fully fueled and so heavy nothing could move it. I reported in, and the Captain grabbed me, looked at my name tag, and said, "There's no joy-bigtime. I need a talker. Paine--get on the 1MC."

I can finally admit, I was a poor choice for an officer. I am the same me you know. Unorganized, forgetful, short, with no charisma or "command presence." And just an Ensign. Wet behind the ears.

Only thing I can say as a plus is that I had lots of sea-sense, good instincts, and although a mediocre pencil-pusher or even "leader," (I was too kind) I have always been effective in an emergency.

I'll cut it short. We couldn't trap our squadron, and they were running out of fuel. It was midnight and stormy, we couldn't refuel them. And we couldn't trap them with the Hawkeye stuck back there.

The skipper was overwhelmed, to say the least. I stuck my neck out a lot. I even talked to him man to man. I don't remember exactly what I did except to say, I unburdoned him. I remember thinking that in the next hour I could screw up so bad I could end up in Leavenworth. I was totally "insubordinate." I told him something like, "Sir, I got this. I will deal with CIC and I will find a way to get the birds somewhere. Da Nang and Quang Tri were under fire and closed.

I asked for vectors and the way I remember it I "suggested" Constellation. (Another CVA that I knew was about 20 N M North of us. I could see it on my radar (which I was "guarding") It is the radar in the photograph, to one nearest the white leather captain's chair overlooking the flight deck.

I didn't know by 0400 what happened. I got "relieved." But I stood the next watch, starting at 0400 the next day. And the next one at 0800. All I cared about was hearing whether they got down. No news was good news. Its been 58 years and it is obvious they all made it.

For several more exhausting months through monsoon I continued to stand my watches, got more effective, and did my mediocre work as a weapons division officer.

But every Tet I put on my dog tags and I feel really quite fine. Because I know they all made it down intact.