It is a book more than 40 years in the making.
The goal Robert H. Bradley III said he had while writing “Swift Boat Skipper: Stories from the Vietnam War. was to set the record straight about the work of those on swift boats and disillusionment some felt when the mission in the war changed.
The Vietnam veteran, now 81, had served the U.S. Navy at Coastal Division 12 in Da Nang in 1969–1970.
Bradley used letters he sent to his parents from when he was in his early 20s in Vietnam as well as a detailed 150-page diary he kept, combining the material into a 300-page book.
“My diaries included not only details of what happened, but I wrote about the attitudes and thinkings of the war,” Bradley said.
Of note, he said, “halfway through my time there (President Richard) Nixon was pulling us out and our mission went from trying to win the war to teaching the Vietnamese how to take control of our swift boats. I spoke 500 to 800 words of Vietnamese, and I trained them the last five months I was there.”
Robert H. Bradley III, a Vietnam veteran, now 81, had served the U.S. Navy at Coastal Division 12 in Danang in 1969–1970. He wrote the book “Swift Boat Skipper: Stories from the Vietnam War” to set the record straight about the work of those on swift boats and disillusionment some felt when the mission in the war changed. (Courtesy)
Bradley said the book is a memoir and he wrote 150 pages in the 1970s after seeing the fictional movie, “Apocalypse Now,” by Francis Ford Coppola, which he said contained “despicable depiction” that was not accurate to his experience. He completed the final 150 pages about five years ago.
“I wanted to try to set the record straight after that terrible movie, “Apocalypse Now,” which everybody loves,” Bradley said.
“Everyone likes the Marlon Brando and all this wacky stuff going on, but unfortunately, it pictured people on swift boats smoking dope and shooting innocent people…In the late ’70s I was working for Citibank and was at this party in Germany with friends and there were people that have seen the movie compare us to Nazis. I wanted to do whatever I could to set the record straight.”
Bradley said, about information he retained and used in the book, “you’re offshore on a destroyer for 30 days without coming to port, you have a lot of time to write letters and keep a diary. I had all of the details I needed.”
Bradley originally joined the service when he was 21 in 1966, having been drafted.
According to the book, Coastal Division 12 Swift Boats “patrolled from the DMZ to Quang Ngai province.” The patrols “were mostly coastal, but one of our key missions in 1969 was the perilous patrols in the Cua Dai River Basin, seeking to wrestle control of the river from the (those we were fighting). Many from Coastal Division 12 were wounded there in the firefights, and one officer died.”
Robert H. Bradley III, a Vietnam veteran, now 81, had served the U.S. Navy at Coastal Division 12 in Danang in 1969–1970. He wrote the book “Swift Boat Skipper: Stories from the Vietnam War” to set the record straight about the work of those on swift boats and disillusionment some felt when the mission in the war changed. (Courtesy)
Bradley had served as officer-in-charge of PCF 24, then as operation officer of the division, and then as ACTOV officer responsible for turning over the swifts to the Vietnamese Navy, according to the book.
He said the book allowed him to reconnect with his crew, and many of them are still alive.
Serving the nation
Bradley was born in Philadelphia, graduated from Deerfield Academy and Williams College before joining the U.S. Navy OCS in December 1966 in the same class as John Kerry.
In 1966, Bradley was drafted after not getting into the graduate school of his choice.
“I had a great love and regard for America,” Bradley said. “My father and all my five uncles had served in the World War II as officers, either in the Navy or in Europe in the Army.”
Bradley’s first deployment was as a damage control assistant on the USS Savage from 1967-68.
“There was an incredible amount of responsibility that a young officer has on a ship like that,” Bradley said.
“You’re 21, 22 or 23 and you’re bringing the ship alongside a tanker at night or and you’re bringing a ship into the harbor,” he said. “You end up with an enormous amount of accountability responsibility at a very young age. I was a very impressed with the caliber of the young officers, it was very difficult to get the job.”
Robert H. Bradley III, a Vietnam veteran, now 81, had served the U.S. Navy at Coastal Division 12 in Danang in 1969–1970. He wrote the book “Swift Boat Skipper: Stories from the Vietnam War” to set the record straight about the work of those on swift boats and disillusionment some felt when the mission in the war changed. (Courtesy)
Bradley was a lieutenant in the Navy.
Following his military service, he graduated Fletcher School at Tufts University. He and his wife Nancy worked 14 years together with Citibank in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
The couple now lives in Wellesley, Mass. and has three children and 12 grandchildren.
Bradley helped to start five companies including, with Timothy H. Foster, Joseph D. Sargent and Jeffrey G. Marsted, Bradley, Foster & Sargent, where he is currently the chairman. While Bradley co-founded Bradley, Foster & Sargent in Hartford, it also has offices in Litchfield and Stonington. He commuted to Hartford for more than two decades as the CEO. BFS is one of the largest investment firms in the state, with more than $8 billion in assets under management.
In September, Bradley collected a Military Writers Society of America award for his book.
Decades after his service, Bradley said he spends each Veteran’s Day speaking at Boston Trinity Academy, a school he founded in Boston in 2002.
“Each year I speak about what means to serve your country and what a blessing it is,” Bradley said. “I also usually spend time at the Wellesley Veterans Association.
Robert H. Bradley III, a Vietnam veteran, now 81, had served the U.S. Navy at Coastal Division 12 in Danang in 1969–1970. He wrote the book “Swift Boat Skipper: Stories from the Vietnam War” to set the record straight about the work of those on swift boats and disillusionment some felt when the mission in the war changed. (Courtesy)
Bradley said all of the people on the swift boats in his division were the best of America.
“They were not smoking dope. Everyone was extremely professional and carried out their missions well,” he said.
“It was really the best and the best and brightest of America. And that’s what I tried to convey in the book, I mentioned a lot about the people there,” Bradley said. “One of the things that I mentioned and emphasized in the book is that at the end of this experience in the Navy of turning a boy into a man, you really learned the art of leadership.
“You learn how to be professional, take responsibility and accountable for what you’re doing, for what your men do. You take care of your men,” he said.
Bradley said those lessons stuck with him throughout his life.
The book is for sale on Amazon as well as the book’s website.
