Conflicts and Compromises of the 458th Sea Tigers

This is a documentary about a little known United States Army unit during the Viet Nam Conflict.  The 458th was and still is the one and only Army Unit to have the Navy River Patrol Boat as standard equipment.  The PBR was first used by the Navy to patrol the inland rivers and coastlines of South Vietnam. The boat proved to be a very effective weapon.

The 458th was first formed as an amphibian truck company in 1943, participating in the Normandy Invasion and campaigns in Northern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe.  Even then it was not an ordinary transportation unit as they used DUKW's. A DUKW is an amphibious truck which could operate on land and water.

The 458th went to war in Viet Nam as a LARC-5 company in 1966 and was involved in transporting supplies and men from ship to shore. They were issued six Boston Whalers and were used for harbor patrols under the control of the Provost Marshal.  Not long after that they were informed that they would be converting to PBR's.  Twenty four men were sent for training with the Navy on PBR operation.

The 458th was known as a orphan unit because it had no parent company.  It was formed with the stroke of a pen, issued gear and left on its own. Thus began the conflicts and compromises that this special unit endured   It didn't even have a patch resulting in multiple different patches being worn by the men. Since they were attached to the 18th MP Brigade, the MP patch was modified and claimed as the unauthorized patch

They were broken up in small detachments with boats located in Newport, Cat Lo, Cat Lai, Vung Ro Bay, Qui Nhon, and Vung Tau.  There they fell under the Local Provost Marshal with duty's being local harbor and river patrols.  Being an orphan unit, there was no direct support for supplies and maintenance - a conflict.  The compromise - they had to borrow, beg, barter, or just plain steal to maintain operations.

Being separated into such diverse locations, even getting paid was a conflict.  The pay officer had to travel to each outpost and distribute the pay script in a set timeframe.  There was no way to drive or even boat to each location so-- Compromise--.  Hop a ride on a helicopter if one was going in that general direction, borrow a jeep or bum a ride on a trusted san-pan or other water vessel.  The pay officer was escorted by another man, sometimes my Papaw, James Howard Anderson.  The men were always in harms way as seen by the Ambush that my Papaw was in.  I have included the newspaper clipping from that event.

These men faced conflict and compromise during their daily duty assignments.  They were required to stop and search any suspicious water craft, confiscating any weapons, ammo, medical supplies or even food being smuggled to the enemy.  This caused strained times with the local people and placed the men in danger.  All confiscated items were turned over to the Army of Viet Nam.  There was great danger from the heavily wooded river banks so Agent Orange was sprayed on the river.  Sometimes even on the men themselves as they patrolled their section of the river.  That was the compromise which resulted in a great many of them becoming ill.

In my research I found that there were a lot of brave men involved in the 458th.  One such man was SP 4 James Loux. As noted in the article, his bravery led to his death, receiving the Silver Star and his 2nd Purple Heart posthumously.  The US Army in tribute has named its largest supply ship after James.  The LSN=6 James A. Loux. 

I have met and spoken with some of the men from the 458th when I went with my Mamaw to their reunion.  One of the men I have communicated with via E-Mail was the Commander of this special unit.  Retired Col. Pete Sellers has been a great help with information about the 458th.  At the time he was in command of this unit he was a Lt. and went on to continue a career serving our country in the U. S. Army.  Another man of great importance to this group is Mr. Lee Helle.  He started a web site devoted to the 458th which has resulted in the formation of The 458th Sea Tigers Association.  New (old) members of the 458th are finding their comrades on a regular basis due to the efforts of this wonderful man.  Many of the facts for this article have come from that website.  Conflict - how do you research something that very few people know existed?   Compromise - The web site and personal conversations with the men who were there.

In 2005, the Museum at Fort Eustis, Virginia finally placed a display of a PBR in their facilities.  It was a proud moment for the 458th to finally be recognized and acknowledged that they existed.  The 1st reunion was held there at the dedication ceremony.  You see there is still conflict and compromises for this group.  Just this year, the men who served in this unit have been authorized to receive the Army Sea Duty Ribbon.

Ricky Tofte (grandson of James Anderson)

As submitted to his 6th grade history class