By Christopher Miskimon

The United States Navy, Marine Corps and Army fought a long campaign along the coast and on the rivers of South Vietnam. Waterways are a vital means of transport in Vietnam, so they naturally became a conduit for the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong to move personnel, weapons and supplies. This made the country’s coastline and rivers part of the battlefield. The Navy assembled a large force of patrol boats, landing craft and amphibious transports able to operate in shallow water areas. They conducted searches of fishing boats and patrolled the riverways. The Army assigned troops from the 9th Infantry Division to the Mekong Delta, and they worked closely with the Navy in operations throughout the delta.

This anthology contains twelve essays from veterans of the coastal and riverine war in Vietnam. Most are from US veterans, though one essay interestingly assesses the Chinese support to North Vietnam. This part of the war is often portrayed, but usually not in detail. This book provides a firsthand look at the Brown Water War and those who fought it, in their own words.

The Brown Water War at 50: A Retrospective on the Coastal and Riverine Conflict in Vietnam (Edited by Thomas J. Cutler and Edward J. Marolda, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, 2024, photographs, notes, bibliography, index, $34.95, HC)