Army has been doing the Navy's job for awhile

...and doing a great job at it.

Reader and former Army coxswain Jim sends along some old school....LCM 8130, Boat 34, from the 1099th Medium Boat Company, 1970.

I'm not going to talk about today's Riverine ops and its future, but focus on those that came before.

Higher res here.

Want to read some more about the 1099th, click here, and there are some nice pics here and here.

I wanted to put Jim's up (Ninme - I bet he is the blonde with his shirt off) because it focued on the every day actions of the Sailors ....errr.... Soldiers, and has something you would see everyday, but wouldn't see in official histories or books - mis-matched deck chairs.

Bravo Zulu to Jim and your Shipmates. Yep, I called them that.

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Note to everyone - Jim's picture didn't start that way. Color photos, unlike most black and white, do not age well. If you want your memories around - SCAN YOUR COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS and burn on a CD.

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UPDATE:In the above photo, The guy on the left is PFC Joe Abston, from Kentucky. On the right is PFC Judd from parts unknown. The extra photo below is Mike 8 out of the water for a screw change, after mission to Tay Ninh. Jim adds some "slice of life."

Pretty classy ride, huh? We lived on board the boats.......six guys crammed into that hootch.
Wood frame and roof, with drop down canvas sides for the monsoons. Antenna mounted high up on easily dropped pole to clear bridges.......the same for a small hootch.

He also sends out an invite:

If any guys reading this are currently involved in waterborne operations, how about sending your stories, observations, and photos to the 1099th Medium Boat webgroup? A bunch of old River Rats would really enjoy current SITREPS from all of you youngbloods currently serving on boats.

High res here.