USS DIACHENKO APD (or LPR) 123 Supply & Disbursing Officer
(I’ve never had as much CASH in my safe as I did back in 1968/69!)
 

USS Diachenko was 1 of 3 converted WWII Destroyer Escorts whose mission during Vietnam was to carry UDT Teams that (primarily) surveyed enemy beaches. This ship rolled in even mild seas and was NOT for anyone who easily got seasick!
Our UDT teams (now called SEALS) worked along the entire coast of Vietnam and ventured for short distances up rivers flowing into the sea. We often stopped in either Da Nang and Chu Lai for materials and supplies.
Since Da Nang’s “reconstituted” milk plant was the only source for fresh milk when working the coast line of 'Nam, we frequently made “milk runs” into the beach for fresh supplies of milk and other materials.
UDT usually began their reconnaissance missions early while the ship stood ready off the beach to provide gunfire support if they encountered enemy fire. My job was either to sit in the ship’s 5 inch gun turret as safety observer (and sweat my ass off in the hot sun!) or to serve as Boat Officer on the small boat taking the UDT into the beach.
The UDT teams were often accompanied by a Swift Boat (as seen in this photo) and/or one of the Diachenko’s boats which could provide close-in fire support for the UDT members if they were fired upon from the beach.
This is one of Diachenko’s boats with the UDT's rubber raft (which was used to quickly pick up UDT swimmers from the water) tied alongside as it headed toward a beach on a mission. Being Boat Officer allowed me to get some sun and fresh air (rather than sweating in the 5 inch gun mount), but this job got boring fairly quickly.
These are some of the UDT members in the water as they approach the beach for their reconnaissance/survey mission.
And, sometimes, one might question the 'alertness' of the small boat crew personnel while they waited off the beach for the UDT to return from their reconnaissance mission!
The Diachenko’s only defense against aircraft were three WWII twin-40mm anti-aircraft guns. One set of 40mm guns was situated forward of the bridge and the other two gun mounts were positioned well aft of the bridge toward the stern.
In this particular exercise, the Chenk was engaged (along with another ship) in firing at targets being towed by an aircraft. No doubt that pilot in the plane towing the target probably let out the MAXIMUM length of cable he had available so as to put as much room as possible between his plane and that target!
Since these twin WWII 40mm guns were designed for defense against propeller-driven planes, thank Christ that the ship never had to defend itself against any attack by a North Vietnamese jet!

As part of Diachenko's capability to hunt submarines, we had "K-Guns" to launch depth charges several hundred yards off both sides of the ship (while other depth charges were dropped directly off the stern of the ship). In this photo, PO Richard Diem is saying: “Watch what happens when I pull THIS...!”
This is a photo of another depth charge being launched from the the starboard side K-Gun. [Quite frankly, I'm glad we never had to worry about any submarines attacking the ship! <grin>]
Bill Gross, our Chief Engineer, was my roommate. The extra 2 racks in our 4-man stateroom are filled with our stereo gear purchased in WestPac. [Bill got out of the Navy and went on to establish the PIMCO Bond Fund. He is now one of the world’s most knowledgeable authorities on bonds.]
Our crew also did its share of contributing to the Japanese economy and increasing our balance of trade problems. Both the port and starboard passageways (as well as most other storage areas around the ship) were jammed with purchases the crew had made during our 6-month tour before we returned to San Diego.
“UNREP”—“Underway Replenishment.” This type of evolution was done every 3-5 days while underway in WestPac to transfer fuel, supplies, ammo, movies, personnel, etc., between ships. For a person being hoisted across, this could be an excellent exercise in strengthening his RECTUM muscles!
In this particular UNREP with an Oiler, while fuel oil was being transferred through the hose amid-ships, other supplies (such as movies or repair parts) were being ‘high-lined’ across in the 2 bags at a second transfer station. Movies were about the only entertainment we had aboard ship in the days before satellite communications!
Steve normally stayed as far away from the bridge of the ship as possible, but, in this photo he checks out the scenery as we returned to our homeport in San Diego following a six month WestPac cruise.
After returning to San Diego from our WestPac cruise, I ran into Rick Woolf (my friend from Grad School, OCS, and Supply School) who had also just completed his first deployment on the USS Platte. As can be seen in this photo, Rick got to visit Australia during his WestPac cruise!
Of course, since Rick was the Disbursing Officer on the Platte, he felt inclined to open up his safe and show me just how much MORE MONEY he got to play with as compared to the Supply Officer on the Diachenko!
On another trip to Mazatlan, Manzanillo, and Acapulco, Jon Dunn and Bill Gross head off on liberty with the crew to enjoy Mexico.
The end of the line for the USS Diachenko: The Mothball Fleet. After completely loading out the ship and preparing for another WestPac tour, we got orders to decommission the ship and traveled through the Panama Canal to take the ship to Orange, TX, where it was taken out of service and later scrapped.

Some of those EXOTIC and EROTIC drinks overseas had STRANGE EFFECTS on me!