S1C Ken ‘Gunner’ Guyer, U.S. Navy, Vietnam

Ken Guyer joined the U.S. Navy when he was 17 years old. It was 1967, and he was eager to join the fight in Vietnam. Once he turned 18, he was on his way there and was soon serving as a gunner on a five-man crew aboard a Navy picket boat patrolling Da Nang Harbor and the Da Nang River.

In this edition of “Veterans Chronicles,” Guyer explains why he loved serving on the picket boats so much, interdicting Vietnamese vessels to see if they were transporting contraband, and engaging enemy forces along the shoreline.

Guyer also shares about his role in the Son Tay raid and how the failure to liberate American prisoners of war haunted him for years until he actually met one of the prisoners and learned how the raid was actually a significant help to the POW’s.

Finally, he tells us what it was like walking through the San Francisco airport in uniform and carrying a weapon during the height of the anti-war protests, and how glad he is to see our service members treated with much more respect today.

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Veterans Chronicles