USS MULLINNIX DD-944

 Vietnam 1972 - Page 9
30 April 1975
All For Nothing...

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

The fleet’s fire power was greater than anything the world had seen since the war in the Pacific in WWII, peeling the face off Vietnam. Not big guns. Only a few 6 in and fewer 8 in. But the sheer number of 5” barrels trolling a few thousand yards of shore was astonishing. Dozens and dozens of 500, 600, 700 and 800 class destroyers, and the newest, the Shermans (900 class) – 5” barrels numbering in the hundreds. The rate at which the fleet could pore tons of explosives on a single command 24-7 was unparalleled in modern warfare.

After the ARVN's victory in Kontum in May, the recapture of Quang Tri and the liberation of An Loc in September, Hanoi finally realized they had lost the 1972 Easter Offensive. Their best divisions had been convincingly defeated - some of them badly mauled - by the South Vietnamese Army. The debacle of the NVA's Nguyen Hue campaign pushed Hanoi to sign the Paris Peace Agreement in January 1973 to save what was left of its invading army from attacks by ARVN units and bombardments by the USAF and VNAF. However, peace was only considered 'breathing space' to be used to prepare for a new invasion.

WWII and Korean vets came home to parades, graffiti, bugles, girls willing…to be willing. Vietnam Vets got beat up, spit on, and called baby killers from the actual people they were protecting. When did it all come apart? When?

To be continued...

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Will Mullinnix ever again fire her guns in anger?






The Oklahoma Journal 30 April 1975


16 May 1975


16 May 1975


9 Sept 1976


11 November 1982




Unknown Date and Location
Note the Forward 3" Gun Mount (Hence a pre-1969 Photo)


Mullinnix Ship's Office Plaque from 1972
Courtesy Rick Arvonio


347,309 Americans received the Purple Heart in Vietnam



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