USS MULLINNIX DD-944

 1969 Vietnam Gunline
16 Jan - 3 Sept

USS Mullinnix, Vietnam Gunline 1969
Picture taken from USS Caliene AO-53



1969 Mullinnix Deck Logs

January 1969 (PDF)
February 1969 (PDF)
March 1969 (PDF)
April 1969 (PDF)
May 1969 (PDF)
June 1969 (PDF)
July 1969 (PDF)
August 1969 (PDF)
September 1969 (PDF)
October 1969 (PDF)
November 1969 (PDF)
December 1969 (PDF)



Excerpt from "The Last Gun Ship - History of USS Mullinnix DD-944"
A Historical Novel By Frank A. Wood

The holidays passed by too quickly and trouble in a far off land was the cause for Mullinnix to once again get underway. At 1600 PM, 16 January 1969, the last lines connecting the Mullinnix to home port were taken in and he beginning of a long, hard job had come into being. The course for the Western Pacific was now set. Taking the last look at the homeport that the crew would not see until September, thoughts turning back on what the crew was leaving behind, but also the tasks ahead.

On her way to Vietnam the Mullinnix went through the Panama Canal again (since the fall of 1967 during the Unitas cruise to South America). She hit San Diego and escorted the USS Ranger over to Pearl. She left Pearl and headed to the gun line in Vietnam. On February 20, Mullinnix was off the coast of Vietnam providing naval gunfire support to U.S. ground forces in the Republic of South Vietnam.



The picture at the right is of Mullinnix and unknown ship anchored in Hong Kong harbor, 1969(Courtesy of Dennis Bergeron).

The Mullinnix had something called an RSPE. It was supposed to be an automatic system for acquiring targets with the 5-inch director radar. There was a tech rep from the company who began the cruise but left before she got to Vietnam. This piece of nonfunctional junk was supposed to be operational before the Mullinnix could go on the gun line so with a little fakery on the FT gangs part; they made it appear to work in a test in Subic Bay. John Myers manually tracked a drone from the director making it appear the RSPE was automatically acquiring the target and tracking it without assistance. He will always wonder if that piece of junk was ever made to work. But it's one headache that was left behind for somebody else to worry with when John transferred off in early 1970.

The Mullinnix served with the USS Biddle DDG-34 as the Biddle served in the Pacific both in 1968 and 1969 spending a total of 14 months of the coast of Vietnam. The USS John Paul Jones DD-932 (DDG-32) was also in Vietnam during the Mullinnix’ 1969 trip.

Assignment to the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) between North and South Vietnam made it even more evident that the war was close-by and very real for the crew. The first patrol there brought the Mullinnix into the kinship of "BIG BROTHER" the USS New Jersey (BB-62), as the Commodore went over for a briefing before being relieved as Gunline Commander.

The patrol boats coming alongside gave us an opportunity to show the troops ashore how the Mullinnix operated and for a few Mullinnix sailors to go ashore to get the feel of life in a war zone camp. Known to all as "Big Swifty", the Mullinnix encouraged the small patrol craft to come alongside for ice cream.

The first two patrols on the gunline found the Mullinnix assigned for duty in and around Danang and further north at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam.

During the first gunline patrol, she fired numerous harassment and call fire missions, primarily in support of the First Marine Division, defending the Da Nang harbor complex, and the Third Marine Division, along the DMZ. Mullinnix then steamed south toward the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Being in the harbor at Da Nang gave the opportunity to be nearer supply sources, and to receive mail more frequently.

Life goes on in Danang even though war is near. The harbor traffic is heavy with freighters, patrol boats, and many small fishing boats. At night the lights of Danang reflect the water of the harbor, as the star shells drift slowly down illuminating the dark countryside and mountains around Danang in order to illuminate enemy troops and positions. The red machine gun tracers arching through the night complete the panorama of combat.

There did remain time for holiday routine and cookouts on the fantail.

John Myers remembers: "During the first gunline period, Mullinnix fired numerous harassment and call fire missions, primarily in support of the First Marine Division, defending the Da Nang harbor complex, and the Third Marine Division, along the DMZ. Mullinnix then steamed south toward the island of Sumatra, Indonesia."

Mullinnix returned to combat for her second gunline patrol on May 1st. Spending most of her time on station just south of the DMZ, the Mighty Mux fired in support of the Third Marine Division. The Mux completed her third and final gunline patrol during this WestPac cruise on July 15, 1969. During the 83 days on three gunline patrols in the I and II Corps areas, Mullinnix provided naval gunfire support (NGFS) to Allied forces south of the DMZ, Da Nang, and in the vicinities of Cam Rahn Bay, Nha Trang, and Qui Nhen.

During the "calls for fire" in three patrols, ammunition was fired at 1,627 targets at an average range of nearly 17,000 yards. For her naval gunfire support performance for fiscal year 1969, Mullinnix was named "TOP GUN" among the gunline destroyers. A proud crew returned to Norfolk on 3 September, after having visited Kobe, Yokosuka, Pearl Harbor, San Francisco, San Diego, and Acapulco on the homeward journey.

The 3”-gun mount forward had been removed before this deployment. The 3" gun was replaced with officers' quarters for DesRon 14 Commander Captain S.L. Rusk.

The Mullinnix fired 20,849 5-inch rounds and 83 3-inch rounds. Total missions 1,627; 229 structures destroyed; 156 structures damaged. She received credit for about 200 KIA.

John Myers was responsible for the aft director for the 5-inchers and FTG-2 Larry Line was responsible for the forward 3-inch director. John Myers only got to “shoot” one mission, which was direct fire from the director at a cave on a hillside. Missed.

The new year witnessed the strengthening of the border patrol barriers and the expansion of SEALORDS into three regions: I Corps, the area north of Saigon, and the remotest reaches of the Mekong Delta. In April, Task Force Clearwater's I Corps efforts were enhanced by Operation Sea Tiger in which Task Force 115 Swift boats, River Division 543 PBRs, Vietnamese Coastal Group 14 junks, and River Assault Group 32 units battled to secure the Cua Dai and Hoi An Rivers in Quang Nam Province.

Soon afterward, in June, naval river forces began patrolling the vital Saigon River from Phu Cuong to Dau Tieng, the latter in the hotly contested Michelin Rubber Plantation. This operation, designated Ready Deck, tied in with the Giant Slingshot interdiction effort to the west.

On 4 July, 1969, Mullinnix was honored by the First ANGLICO Saigon, the officer in charge of Naval gunfire support spoters in the Republic of Vietnam, as the outstanding gunline destroyer for the period 1 July 1968 to 30 June 1969. The citation noted: "your rapid response, cooperativeness, accuracy and reliability... ...have earned you the title "Top Gun" (Reference: Naval and Maritime Chronology 1961 - 1971", Naval Institute Press).

_______________

On 20 July, 1969, Mullinnix fired her 20,000th round of 5"54 ammunition and thus, became members of the "Rod and Gun Club of the DMZ".

In the Mekong Delta proper, Swift boat, PBR, riverine assault craft, SEAL, and Vietnamese ground units struck at the Viet Cong in their former strongholds, which included the Ca Mau Peninsula, the U Minh Forest, and the islands of the broad Mekong River system. From 7 to 18 April, ground, air, and naval units from each of the American services, the Vietnamese Navy, and the Vietnamese Marine Corps conducted Silver Mace II, a strike operation in the Nam Can Forest on Ca Mau Peninsula.

The enemy avoided heavy contact with the allied force, but his logistical system was disrupted. After raiding and harassing operations like Silver Mace II, the combined navies often deployed forces to secure a more permanent Vietnamese government presence in vital areas. In June 1969, for example, the U.S. Navy anchored a mobile pontoon base in the middle of the Ca Mau region's Cua Lon River. This operation, labeled Sea Float, was made difficult by heavy Viet Cong opposition, strong river currents, and the distance to logistic support facilities. Still, Sea Float denied the enemy a safe haven even in this isolated corner of the delta.

The allies further threatened the Communist "rear" area in September when they set up patrols on the Ong Doc, a river bordering the dense and isolated U Minh area. Staging from an advance tactical support base at the river's mouth, U.S. and Vietnamese PBRs of Operation Breezy Cove repeatedly intercepted and destroyed enemy supply parties crossing the waterway.

By October 1969, one year after the start of the SEALORDS campaign, Communist military forces in the Mekong Delta were under heavy pressure. The successive border interdiction barriers delayed and disrupted the enemy's re-supply and troop replacement from Cambodia. The raiding operations hit vulnerable base areas and the Sea Float deployment put allied forces deep into what had been a Viet Cong sanctuary. In addition, American and Vietnamese forces captured or destroyed over 500 tons of enemy weapons, ammunition, food, medicines, and other supplies. Furthermore, 3,000 Communist soldiers were killed and 300 were captured at a cost of 186 allied men killed and 1,451 wounded.

After her last gunline period, Mullinnix steamed to Kobe, Japan, arriving on 19 July. Leaving Kobe on 21 July, she set sail for Yokosuka, Japan, arriving on 23 July. On 28 July, Mullinnix, Commander Desroyer Squadron 14 and staff, USS Perry DD-844), USS D. H. Fox DD-779, and USS J. W. Weeks DD-701 set course eastward, saying sayonara to Japan, towards home - some 13,000 miles to Norfolk, Virginia. Home is best.

1969 was the year the U.S. sent a man to the moon. As the Mullinnix steamed towards Pearl after completing a 4-month stint on the gun line, the ship’s crew was advised to be on guard in case the boys on Apollo strayed off course on their return to earth. Needless to say, the crew was pretty excited but as luck would have it the closest the Mullinnix got to the actual landing was about 1000 miles or so.

Stars & Stripes, 21 July 1969 (pdf)

She was one of the top guns on this 1969 tour. Watching star shells going off before a mid watch never got old. Mullinnix finished Her fighting (83 days on the gunline) - for now...

To be continued...

_______________

Death Abroad Mullinnix

_______________


USS Mullinnix Underway - Date Unknown

_______________

Mullinnix Welcome Aboard Pamplet (PDF)
Mux Welcome Aboard Pamplet from Belawan (Medan) Sumatra in 1969
Courtesty of Alfred "Al" Cammarata
Consulate Commo officer, Sumatra 1969

Al remembers, “ I was the Commo Officer at the Consulate in Medan during her Visit and the guy that sent that "well done" consulate telegram re her visit. The Indonesians wouldn't allow Mullinnix radio transmissions while in port. State dept agreed to re transmit all her traffic via our system. And at least twice some of your comms people brought a box of your teletype messages to the consulate for me to send. Since I was the lone communicator I didn't get a chance to visit her but my wife and the rest of the consulate people did. My wife brought back some pepperoni from the ship. A real treat for us. I'm Italian and hadn't eaten pepperoni in 2 years!! You can believe it was a treat. There was a hotel/bar across the street from the consulate. One afternoon I went over. The place was full with sailors (I’m shocked Al, really shocked – a bar full of Mux sailors? I can’t imagine…). Medan was not what I would consider a good liberty port. I meet two sailors and invited them to our house for dinner next day. We had traditional Indonesia satay. Grilled chicken and beef with a peanut sauce. I can’t remember their names. I believe one was married and from Illinois. They said they were anxious to get home and really appreciated visiting with a family. They enjoyed holding and talking with our 3 year old daughter. Mullinnix had just come off gun line. They didn't say much and I didn't ask. But it was obvious that combat changes people...

A BIG thanks to Al for this piece of Mullinnix history!

_______________

27 January 1969 Mux Familygram (PDF)

20 March 1969 Mux Familygram (PDF)

20 April 1969 Mux Familygram (PDF)

20 May 1969 Mux Familygram (PDF)

4 July 1969 Mux Familygram (PDF)

17 July 1969 Mux Familygram (PDF)

1 August 1969 Mux Familygram (PDF)

11 December 1969 Mux Familygram (PDF)

_______________

If you are interested in further Mullinnix COMBAT DETAIL: Go to National Archives Access to Archival Databases. On that page, click on "Vietnam". On this new page, scroll down until you see "Records About Naval Gunfire Support During the Vietnam War...". Click on the . Then, were it says "Search this Series", type in "MULLINNIX" (spelling it correctly), then hit 'enter'. This should result in 897 USS Mullinnix records that cover 1966, 1969, and 1972. Click on the . You will see, in chronological order, the Mullinnix Firing Records starting with 2 August, 1966 and ending on 8 September 1972. You'll note there can be multiple records for any one day.


Vietnam Coastline viewed through a US Destroyer's Rangefinder - 1969

__________________

Campaigns Mux participated in: 1. Vietnamese Counter-offensive Phase VI (02 Nov 1968 - 22 Feb 1969) 2. Tet 69/Counteroffensive (23 February 1969 - 08 June 1969) 3. Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969 (09 June 1969 - 31 October 1969) 4. Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970 (01 November 1969 - 30 April 1970)

Mullinnix "Top Gun" Patch Vietnam 1969

USS Mullinnix
Belawan Indonesia, 1969


Hospital ships USS Sanctuary AH17 and USS Repose AH16
Vietnam 1969








1969 Cruise Book Cover


Vietnam Radio (LIVE!!!)

...some Vietnam-era Video Clips

Hover Craft in Vietnam

Swift Boats in Vietnam

USS New Jersey and Swift Boats in Vietnam

Hover Craft in Vietnam



Date Line Saigon
16 March 1969 - Washington Post (PDF)



Live From Washington: Lottery Night 1969!



...some Vietnam-era Music

Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation (Tom Paxton)

Going Up The Country (Canned Heat @ Woodstock)

Theme from M*A*S*H (the movie)





Good Morning, Vietnammmmmm!!!!!!


Radio Show - Clip 1
Radio Show - Clip 2
Radio Show - Clip 3
Radio Show - Clip 4
Radio Show - Clip 5
Radio Show - Clip 6
English Class - Clip 1
English Class - Clip 2
Convoy - Clip 1
Convoy - Clip 2
Baseball Game - Clip 1
Baseball Game - Clip 2
Goodbye Vietnam

_______________

Many an American soldier, hunkered down as bullets whistled through the foliage, were startled to see an old lady climbing creakily out of a jeep! "Boys, let's talk turkey," Corrie would announce. "Either you're going to survive this war or you're going to fall. If you fall, are you ready to meet God?"

The Hiding Place
Corrie Ten Boom



Go to 1969 Vietnam - Page 2
Go to 1969 Vietnam - Page 3
Go to 1969 Vietnam - Page 4
Go to 1969 Vietnam - Page 5
Go to 1969 Vietnam - Page 6
Go to 1969 Vietnam - Page 7

Go Back to Shipyards / Gitmo
Go Back to Ship History
Home