Nguyen Van Kiet - Rescue Operations

Rescue Operations

Nguyen was a member of the Vietnamese frogmen Naval Advisory Detachment, Sea Commando team, from Da Nang. He was assigned to assist Norris in bringing three downed U.S. air men from more than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) behind enemy lines. OV-10 pilot Clark was closest to the team’s position and would be rescued first. Clark was relayed instructions to get in the water and float downstream where Norris and his team would intercept him. Anderson ordered Norris to take his team no more than 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) forward and wait for the survivors to come to them, but Norris defied the order, turned off his radio and avoiding numerous enemy patrols, went twice that distance. Anderson, Norris, and Nguyen along with four other Vietnamese commandos set up an overwatch position near the Mieu Giang River, which ran near the positions of both downed airmen.

Clark was seriously weakened by five days hiding from the enemy with little to eat. On the night of 9 April, Norris, Nguyen and the commandos retrieved him from the river and got him to friendly territory. The next night they set out to find Hambleton. During their search that night two of the commandos refused to press the mission further, saying they "refused to follow an American just to rescue an American." Approaching dawn, Norris was going to proceed alone when Nguyen volunteered to stay with him. They took an abandoned sampan and cautiously searched the river shore for two more hours without success. They reluctantly returned to their forward operating base to rest and hope they would be more successful the next night. Forward air controller Harold Icke on Bilk 11 fixed Hambleton's position during the day so Norris and Nguyen could find him that night.

On the night of 12 April, Norris and Nguyen found a deserted village and clothing which they used to disguise themselves as fishermen. They took advantage of the abandoned sampan to row quietly up the river. Even in the pitch dark and dense fog, they could see large numbers of North Vietnamese soldiers and tanks on the shoreline. Traveling upriver in the sampan, they broke out of the heavy fog and found themselves under the Cam Lo bridge. They had passed Hambleton's position more than 30 minutes ago. Turning around, they finally found Hambleton sitting in a clump of bushes, alive but partly delirious. Sunrise was coming, and although Norris thought it best to wait until dark to return downriver, Hambleton needed to be evacuated immediately. Despite the risk, they hid Hambleton in the bottom of the sampan, covered him with bamboo, and started downriver.

Their sampan was soon spotted by North Vietnamese troops, some of whom fired at them, but Norris and Nguyen could not afford to return fire. They traveled down river and Norris called in air support to eliminate the North Vietnamese shooting at them from the northern bank. They rescued Clark and Hambleton, but Walker was discovered and killed by the NVA before they could return to rescue him. A book was written about Nguyen's heroism by William Charles Anderson, the book was later adapted into a 1988 movie, Bat*21. In 1999, after the release of considerable classified information, a second book, The Rescue of Bat 21, was published by Darrel D. Whitcomb. Nguyen emigrated to the United States, and, as of 2008, resided in Washington State.