In the early years of the Vietnam war, the Navy had to make do with what they had for minesweepers. The "blue water" minesweepers drew too much water for use on shallow rivers. So they improvised out of old LCMs (WWII vintage, non magnetic, wooden hulls) and other old craft that was still in their inventory. They also ordered minesweepers just for this war that would be workable on the rivers. Standing orders were that no troops would be transported up the narrow rivers without minesweepers leading the way. Charles liked to start his ambush with a mine, followed by intense rocket and machine gun fire from the banks. Then there were the monitor boats. Similar to the US civil war ironclads that fought on the Mississippi River. Those were the battleships of the brown water Navy. This scene shows 2 minesweeper "alphas" as they were known, sweeping the Long Tau on the way up to Saigon. This was a daily ritual to be sure the main channel into the port of Saigon was mine free for shipping. To the left is the ubiquitous PBR (Patrol Boat, River) with its crew checking the papers of the occupants of a sampan. Sampans were used by local people to transport their harvests, animals, and produce on the way to market. In some places, it was the only way to get around. Charles also used them to transport supplies and contraband to his hideaways. The sampan was a relatively small boat(5-7 meters long), some were powered by small gasoline motors, others just used the river's current to propel them along. Just some other common scenery, the grass huts that were home to the locals, the water buffalo, and pigs that many locals kept for food. Thanks for viewing :-) bdus, helmets, weapons from Panko PBR MarkII, sampans from Vanishing Point