After his rescue by Swifties, Cambodian Senyint Chim (center) went to work for Naval Intelligence. He is seen in this 1970 picture with his Naval Intelligence Liaison Officer, LCDR Jack Herriott (in glasses, along with other NIOLS and agent who taught Senyint how to pretend to be a smuggler, and directed his intelligence collection operations.

Sometimes I really hate my part-time job. I was scrolling through the incoming mail this morning and discovered the lay-out people had sent me a note yesterday. Apparently there were problems with the data-dump of the galley files for the Quarterly publication I edit. I had shipped to them prior to departing for the minor odyssey in Michigan. The files were corrupted, and I spent the morning re-sending them- I think.

There are only a few moments when the hundreds of files, worked on a variety of computers, are all in the same place and order. Frustrating.

In the midst of typing The Bluffs staff nurse called to tell me they had found Raven on the floor of the television room. One moment in the recliner, the next on the floor. They were investigating for possible lingering injuries, though he seems to be fine. I told them he does that periodically, and thanked them for their solicitude. I hate it when the phone goes off with a West Michigan area code.

I wanted to talk about that unpronounceable Icelandic volcano that may go off momentarily, or the big climate change conference in Durban, South Africa, or the fact that the unemployment rate is really hovering around 11% if you count the people who have simply left the work force, unable to find jobs.

On the upside, the stupid Quarterly might actually be done now, Europe, on the eve of a big eruption (remember what a pain in the butt Iceland has been lately, between financial melt-downs and volcanic explosions?) may survive the current Euro crisis with the help of The Fed.

Anyway, here is something I wouldn’t have written to you this morning, except I had to retype it anyway:

On 10 May 1970 s young Cambodian desperate to escape from Viet Cong recruitment gangs scratched a message on a chalkboard, stood on the banks of the Bassac River and waved the improves sign at a pair of U.S. Navy swift boats motoring past on patrol.

The sign was in English. It said: ‘I WANT TO GO WITH YOU.”

His name was Denyint Chim. The Switfies hailed him on loudspeaker: “Swim out to us.”

“I jumped in the river,” Senyint recalled years later. “I was a weak swimmer. A sailor dove off a swift boat into the river to help me.”

The Swifties turned Senyint over to Naval Intelligence Liaison Officer (NILO) Jack Herriott.  The Cambodian’s English had come by way of missionary schooling He had valuable information about VC activity in the area. Some undercover work for Naval Intelligence followed, with Senyint’s cover being that he was a Cambodian black marketer), and those efforts le to his opportunity to come to the United States.

Fast forward to May 2011: Senyint, a U.S. citizen, a high school algebra teacher in San Diego, finally had a chance to reunite with the sailors who rescued him back in 19790 and set him on his path to a better world. “That swift boat crew saved my life,” he said. “I’ve spent years trying to find them.”

Thanks to the internet and reunion group sites, Senyint finally realized that dream. By emailing the Swift Boat Sailors Association website, Senyint was reconnected with some of the Swifties of PCF 56, who had vivid memories of the rescue incident.

Senyint was invited to attend the Swift Boat Sailors Association Reunion and participate in the Memorial Day 2011 ceremony at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado- where swift-boat sailors trained, and where there now stands a wall inscribed with names never to be forgotten.

A bagpiper and honor guard helped mark the moment, and as a ship’s bell chimed, Senyint read aloud the names of swift-boat sailors who made he ultimate sacrifice. It was truly a Memorial Day to remember. – Virgil A. Irwin

Vic