Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam by Lt. Cdr. Thomas J. Cutler, USN is a very readable concise history of the US Navy involvement in Vietnam. The author weaves facts and figures with the human stories of the men and women who were fighting a different kind of war. You will see the beginnings of the Vietnam navy, the US advisor role, and active involvement with coastal and inland waterway operations. The stories of naval personnel performing routine surveillance of coastal waters or engaged in the terror of close quarter combat on the muddy waters of the Mekong Delta paint a picture of the war in Vietnam that is often overlooked. A partnership of Navy and 9th Infantry Divisions units loosened the tight grip that the Viet Cong had on the strategically important Delta.
