By late 1973 America s ground troops had left South Vietnam. But the South China Sea was still patrolled by the US Navy and its carrier battle groups, which continued to sail the coastal waters of Vietnam and the Tonkin Gulf. Caught in the restlessness of being in neither war nor peace, missions were flown, sorties counted, bombs loaded and missiles and rockets armed. The saga of Vietnam was not over yet and as America strained to put the war behind, the sailors of Task Force 77, known as the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club, continued their vigilance. Wedged between the withdrawal from Vietnam and confrontations with the Soviets in the Cold War, Task Force 77 faithfully plied the green waters of the South China Sea. The situation was best summed up by a popular phrase from that time: If you re not confused, you don t understand the situation.
Jeff Lee Manthos was a helicopter aircrewman during this period, deploying on aircraft carriers in the South China Sea, Tonkin Gulf, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. The flight deck was the center of activity for him and the rest of the air wing. Given rare time off from long hard days and nights of flight operations at sea, aircrews and sailors would congregate on the flight deck for sun and relaxation. As a result, the flight deck was affectionately called Steel Beach.