In early 2013, a new initiative called the Story of the Month was launched by the Stories of Service Program at the United States Navy Memorial. The Stories of Service Program is proud to recognize our Nation’s Veterans and preserve their stories for future generations. Each month, the program will select a Veteran’s interview which has been conducted, edited, and archived by the United States Navy Memorial, to be featured as the “Story of the Month.” The second published Story of the Month honored, celebrated, and recognized the service of United States Navy Veteran, SN Raul Herrera. SN Herrera was interviewed twice by the Navy Memorial. The first time at the Swift Boat Sailors Association Reunion in San Antonio Texas and a second time at the Swift Boat Sailors Association Reunion in Washington D.C.

The importance of archiving his interviews embodies the values of the Navy Memorial and its unwavering mission to preserve the heritage of the Sea Services for future generations to come.

The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce the May 2023 story of the month has been selected to recognize the service of Vietnam War Veteran, SN Raul Herrera. The following is the original article, first published in 2013.

 SN Herrera reflected on his service and shared, “During Operation Market Time, as a part of Task Force 115, our job was to patrol the coastline of South Vietnam and prevent enemy infiltration in the area,” shared Raul Herrera with the Navy Memorial Film Crew at the Swift Boat Sailors Reunion in San Antonio, Texas. He spoke of an operation that occurred many years ago during his involvement in the Vietnam War and his time spent in Southeast Asia while serving as a Radio-Radarman aboard a Swift Boat patrolling the waterways of South Vietnam. He remarked that, “A Market Time Aircraft outside of Saigon was about to end its patrol and one of the crew members spotted a suspicious vessel and reported that after another pass the crew noticed that the ship flew no flags.” This suspicious craft was reported to a U.S. Destroyer, the USS Wilhoite (DE-397), that was then dispatched to intercept and observe.

Mr. Herrera took a moment with his story and paused as if remembering where he was before his Swift Boat was dispatched into harm’s way. He recalled, “That morning we prepared like we always did when it was our turn for patrol PCF 79, Patrol Craft Fast….We went out on patrol and later on in the day we received a coded message that my boat officer, Mr. Bergin, had to decode using special equipment that we had and the message said that an enemy ship was headed our way… My job as a Radio-Radarman was to plot the course of the different contacts and we noticed that the enemy ship was going into our patrol area.”

As the interview continued, Mr. Herrera remarked, “It was apparent that we were going to have confrontation with the enemy ship….As night fell, we knew that an enemy ship was on its way and you start thinking about your life. I was 20 years old at the time and I just didn’t want to die… After a number of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard Vessels tracked the North Vietnamese Ship, the Swift Boat PCF 79 and the Coast Guard Vessel USCG Point Orient were given the order to fire.”

The events that transpired lead Mr. Herrera and the crew he served with, as well as other servicemen involved, to be ordered to Da Nang. He reported, “On July 19th we were ordered to Da Nang for a ceremony and didn’t know what the event was for.” Nuygen Cao Ky, the Premier of South Vietnam…"awarded us with the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry for our actions in stopping the enemy ship…I can’t have any idea of how many lives we saved because we kept those arms from the enemy.” 

Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about his story, you can view the first and second part of his experience within this page and other fascinating interviews conducted by this program.