Read an Excerpt
Prologue
After securing thirty-five to forty thousand words for this manuscript, I began to wonder why the hell I had even begun the project; I had already burned damn near a half a manuscript in the wood stove after abandoning it early-on because my editor was a little slow off the mark, then decided to begin all over again. And I had this attitude, “Why do today what I can do after I go fishin’?” When I reached fifty to sixty thousand words, I was nearly back to where I had been at the wood stove. By then I had become dedicated again but still had questions as to why I was spending my prime-time at the computer instead of fishin’. Then, when the computer word-count reached seventy thousand I fell back, regrouped, and tried to see just what I had collected here, it hit me like a slap in the face. But, the manuscript was still far from finished and still taking me away from my favorite pastime. But, like ascending from a deep dive, I was beginning to see the light as I neared the surface.
On a roll by then, except for an occasional fishin’ trip, I couldn’t stop. I even found ways to interview some Teammates while out on the lakes or floating the rivers of Western Montana. Because of the beautiful surroundings, this not only made my interviews more interesting and stress free but also kept up my fishin’ habit that is required for my survival on this planet.
The events recorded on these pages, were experienced by my comrades then described or presented to me in personal interviews, phone conversations, or personal documents by the individuals themselves. All the men whose exploits are described within these pages were either members of the United States Navy’s Underwater Demolition Teams or SEAL Team, in many cases both.
To fully, or even partially understand the functions that the Underwater Demolition Teams and SEAL teams (UDT/SEAL) have fulfilled throughout recent U.S. military history, one must attempt to put oneself in the mind of a Navy Frogman. The experiences recorded here will help you do exactly that.
Giving the reader a little knowledge of the flexibility and variety of operational duties that the Teams were—and are—involved in, straight from the men who experienced them, will also help give you an understanding of the way the Navy’s Frogmen operated. It should also give the reader an idea of a few of the UDT/SEAL capabilities. These stories just touch a fraction of the overall operational picture of Frogman history. There were many stories I dared not, or could not—legally—print.
Some teammates keep their experiences to themselves. I respect their privacy. Other teammates welcomed my approach and appreciated the fact that someone else was interested in that important part of their lives. Asking my comrades to relate their experiences is one of the most difficult feats I’ve ever had to do, but I felt that it is very important for our families, friends, teammates, and the public in general to read about the Navy’s Frogmen performing their duties and living their lives at that most important time of their sojourn on Earth. Whether it was liberty in Olongapo City, reconning the beaches of Guam, or a fire-fight in the Delta, what better way to relate the story than in the words of the men who have experienced the encounters.
Opening up a letter from a Teammate with whom I haven’t been in contact for more than twenty years, a letter in which he related a personal experience for this manuscript was a very emotional occasion. Other interviews, letters and notes made me laugh till my sides ached. The sharing of experiences was good for all of us, as only a Frogman can relate to a Frogman—or a Frogman’s nights in Olongapo City …
After reading accounts in this book, some people may think that UDT/SEAL training is cruel and inhumane and should be reorganized. They may ask, Why does this training have to be so difficult? Why do these men have to go through with this? The proper answer is simple to the men who “Have Been There!”
Number One—because of that difficult training, we had an outstanding survival record in combat. It helped us in times of need, in life-and-death situations; and improved our chances of returning home alive.
Number Two—we never had to go through the training; it was purely our choice. We were all volunteers.
Number Three—there seems to be a growing problem with “Wish-They-Were, Want-to-Be’s,” individuals claiming not only to have been members of the UDT/SEAL Teams, but other Special Operations Forces as well. The stories within the pages of this manuscript are not the contrived experiences of “Want-to-Be’s” who for some reason have to fabricate their pasts….
The Definition of a Frogman
Dwight Daigle
SEAL Team 1 1967–1970
Gen-u-wine, shockproof, waterproof, chrome plated, antimagnetic, barrel-chested, rootin’, tootin’, parachutin’, fightin’, fuckin’, frogman that never eats and never sleeps and takes forty men forty days and forty nights to track down, can see in the dark, breathe underwater, and fly.
Chapter One
The Early UDTs
(The Underwater Demolition Team Handbook—First Edition, 1965)
During the earliest stages of preparation for an amphibious landing, a number of special organizations are expected to obtain intelligence information on possible beach landing sites.
It is during the final days and hours preceding the actual landing that two specially trained units are called upon to perform an amphibious reconnaissance. These two special units were the navy’s underwater demolition teams and the Marine Corps’ amphibious reconnaissance teams.
Marine Corps amphib recon teams, during World War II were clandestinely inserted into the expected landing area prior to the actual landing to provide intelligence to the landing force commander. Their assigned areas of operation were usually from the high-water line (high tide) inland.
The navy’s underwater demolition teams (UDT) were responsible for collecting intelligence from the three-and-one-half fathom curve offshore to the high-water line on the beach of the anticipated amphibious landing site. They were also responsible for the clearance and destruction of any man-made or natural obstacles by demolition located within the assigned UDT area before the actual landing took place.
In addition, they would also collect information into the hinterland area (area past the first signs of vegetation from the beach). This includes intelligence about the enemy, their positions, firepower, movement, minefields, and types of vegetation and terrain the landing forces will encounter once they hit the beach. Also, samples of the beach itself are collected (sand, dirt, rock, etc.) and sent back to the ship for the analyst to determine if heavy vehicles can maneuver onto the shore.
The types of obstacles the UDT men might encounter could be natural or man-made. This may include coral, boulders, logs, enemy mines, steel, concrete, or mined natural or man-made obstacles.
Additional tasks would include channel location, marking and improving them, initial assault-wave guidance, along with the beach intelligence for the task force commander. There are even more responsibilities for the UDT men, which include clandestinely landing supplies, infiltrating and exfiltrating agents and guerrillas, harbor and river penetration and clearance, and surface or underwater attacks against ships or harbor installations.
Being combat-demolition experts, combat swimmers, and rubber-boat handlers in the early years, the UDT men later became qualified scuba divers and parachutists to expand their operational environment.
The UDTs were also capable of penetrating into and beyond the hinterland for intelligence gathering and demolition raids against enemy targets. Both the UDT and recon units operated in very small groups, helping to eliminate the possible detection by the enemy.
In early 1943, the navy formed the Navy Combat Demolition Unit (NCDU) from members of the navy construction battalions and the Navy/Marine Scout and Raider Volunteers. The rugged, strenuous training began at Fort Pierce, Florida. The purpose, to provide better preassault hydrographic information and to demolish any natural or man-made obstacles, giving the regular landing assault forces a better chance of survival.
Demolition work was emphasized and nonrestricted. New methods and explosives were developed for demolishing different types of obstacles the UDT men might encounter. The UDT men had the opportunity to standardize and develop their own explosives according to their operational requirements.
The training given to the early UDTs at Fort Pierce, Florida, included endless hours of exhausting day and nighttime evaluations conducted in the insect-, snake-, and alligator-infested swamps. This intensive psychological and demanding physical training was based on the theory that a man is capable of ten times as much physical output as was usually thought.
The mud, insects, snakes, and alligators along with the demanding teamwork involved made the UDT men feel at home in this environment so future operations could be conducted successfully if they encountered that type of terrain.
Pause for a minute and place yourself in this harsh training situation, in your own mind if you can, and maybe you will comprehend why so few men graduate from a UDT/SEAL training. You are continuously exposed to immeasurable mandatory imsomnia, reeking mud and water, one evolution after another, fatigued from the constant on-the-go, along with the instructors constantly harassing you verbally and physically, making conditions miserable, trying to make you quit. To top this off, there are explosions going off all around you.
It takes a very determined motivated individual to hang in there just to complete the training course. Well over half the UDT trainees drop out of the all-volunteer training program. Those members who complete UDT/SEAL training are proud of their accomplishments and join the elite group of the UDTs then, or the present day SEAL teams.
The men of the early-day NCDUs did not anticipate any swimming, and their normal assignments were conducted only at low tide. Their uniforms at that time (Utah and Omaha Beaches at Normandy) consisted of impregnated, hooded, canvas fire-fighting suits, with field shoes and long stockings, also impregnated. A protective mask covered the bare part of the face and was used in the anticipation of the Germans using mustard gas.
The NCDUs lost thirty percent of their men at Utah Beach and 60 to 70 percent at Omaha Beach. Even under overwhelming odds, the NCDU men completed their mission, saving many American and Allied forces lives by opening up passageways through the obstacles for the landing craft coming ashore.
After the war in Europe, the navy Frogmen became known as the underwater demolition teams or UDT. They pulled combat operations and made hydrographic reconnaissance at Borneo, Peleliu, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Lingayen, Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
