Harry Sine - Vietnam Wall

To anyone who knew Harry Sine:

I was one of a small group of men who went swimming at the beach by the Americal reception station at Chu Lai on Christmas Day, 1969. The sky was deep blue, the sun was high, and the South China Sea was calm. I was standing waist-deep in warm water when a man suddenly burst from beneath the surface, called out, and disappeared into the water. I swam the fifteen or twenty feet to the spot where I had seen him and put my feet down only to find a strong, cold current instead of the sand. At that moment the man grabbed me from below and the very strong undertow tumbled us over and over along the bottom and down the beach. He had such a powerful hold on me that it was only when he went limp that I was able to get behind him and get us both to the... read more

To anyone who knew Harry Sine:

I was one of a small group of men who went swimming at the beach by the Americal reception station at Chu Lai on Christmas Day, 1969. The sky was deep blue, the sun was high, and the South China Sea was calm. I was standing waist-deep in warm water when a man suddenly burst from beneath the surface, called out, and disappeared into the water. I swam the fifteen or twenty feet to the spot where I had seen him and put my feet down only to find a strong, cold current instead of the sand. At that moment the man grabbed me from below and the very strong undertow tumbled us over and over along the bottom and down the beach. He had such a powerful hold on me that it was only when he went limp that I was able to get behind him and get us both to the surface. By that time I was so exhausted that I could not resist the current and we were carried down the beach toward some of the others who were swimming closer to the shore. I called out to them for help, and when they swam out to us, one of them took the drowning man from me. The last thing I remember was lying on the beach throwing up sand and seawater while a helicopter put its runners into the water to pick up the others.
Many years later, on the Online Vietnam Wall, I learned that only one US soldier had drowned in-country on December 25, 1969. That man was Harry Richard Sine Jr. I did not know any of the other men who fought the riptide that day, and I cannot remember any of their faces. But I will never forget the face of the man who rose up out of the water in front of me that Christmas afternoon. Was that man Harry Sine ? Or was Harry one of the men who came when I called out for help ? Only a picture of Harry will tell.

Richard H. Reddy
rchrdreddy1@gmail.com





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