Film wins praise of Vietnam vets

Published 9:00 pm Friday, March 16, 2007

EVERETT – The muzzle flashes and battle sounds are jarring on film. In real life, adrenaline dampened the noise and confusion in a riverside jungle nearly 40 years ago in Vietnam.

A new documentary shows Petty Officer David Larsen of Parsons, Kan., stepping off the front of a 31-foot Navy river patrol boat. He was loaded down with an M-60 machine gun and extra ammunition.

The film, part of a series called “Combat Zone,” does not show how the weight of that load almost made the then 117-pound, 21-year-old sailor stumble as he rushed into the foliage to help six U.S. Army soldiers. It could not recount the terror as he laid down protective fire against 50 Vietcong.

Larsen was one of about a dozen former patrol boat crewmembers who came to Naval Station Everett on Friday to preview the documentary produced for the Discovery Channel. Part of it was shot in October on Ebey Island near Everett.

“Each one of us dealt with it in their own way,” said Larsen, who earned the Navy Cross for his heroics on an August night in 1969.

Six river patrol boats had deposited a squad of six Army soldiers in the jungle to scout for the Vietcong. Something went terribly wrong and the soldiers were ambushed with rocket and small arms fire.

The firefight, including Larsen’s exploits, was chosen to appear in a filmed series of episodes depicting fierce battles and bravery.

This episode of “Combat Zone” is scheduled to air March 26 on the Military Channel and April 21 on the Discovery Channel.

Footage featuring actors was shot on Ebey Island partly because the area is the home of one of the few working river patrol boats that saw duty in Vietnam.

An area organization of patrol boat veterans, called Gamewardens Northwest, last year refurbished a Mark II river boat intended to become a continuous reminder of those who sailed in the craft.

About a third of those who patrolled the Vietnamese rivers were either wounded or killed. Some were wounded more than once, including Tom Restemayer of Lynnwood, who also previewed the documentary.

“They did a good job of showing what we actually did,” Restemayer said of the film.

While Larsen was awarded the Navy Cross for protecting three wounded soldiers, several others who participated in the battle received Bronze Stars for helping in the firefight or for pulling out the wounded and dead.

Charlie Vance of Portland, Ore., was there that August night, and earned a Bronze Star.

“I brought out ammo and helped bring the wounded back,” said the former petty officer.

He said Larsen was an unlikely candidate for heroics, but he rose to the occasion.

“He was just a quiet old farm boy and he took in an M-60, and he was the first one off the boat,” Vance said of Larsen. “He actually saved lives.”

The naval station played host to the preview partly because one of the ships stationed there, the fast frigate USS Ford, was named after another river patrol boat crewmember who was killed in Vietnam – Patrick Osborne Ford.

Officers and crewmembers from the Ford assisted in the production of the documentary.

The documentary was previewed by about a dozen patrol boat veterans, some of their spouses and a group of current sailors.

Also there was Mike Gregoire, husband of Gov. Chris Gregoire. He’s a Vietnam veteran and he said he’s interested in activities of all veterans.

With a few small exceptions, the presentation was “pretty close to being real,” Larsen said. He said he appreciates being singled out, but hopes the documentary becomes a tribute to all those who sailed in the river patrol boats.

Restemayer, who was wounded twice during his service, was pleased with the work, which pieced together archive film from Vietnam, interviews of Larsen and others, and the film shot near Everett.

“It showed that we did more than just float down the river,” Restemayer said.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.