Notice

If you have been to the PG Web Site before you know that it has been quite some time since the site has been updated. Our last Web Master had to quit due to personal reasons and I have not been able to find a volunteer to take over the task. Finally, after a good deal of work between myself and Jim, we got the site changed over to a new webhosting service. It will take a bit of time, but shortly after the Charleston reunion I will begin to update the web site. I appreciate your patience, it will take a while for me to learn the html language and Frontpage web site editing. Also, I will attempt to get a new guest book / web forum set up after I get the site back up and on line. In the meantime most of the original guest books are available for review. Thank you for your patience. To return to the website, simply close the new window.

For visitors who know little or nothing about the Vietnam era Patrol Gunboat, we of the Patrol Gunboat Association welcome you to our website. The goal of this Association is to promote an annual reunion for the crews of these seventeen ships, providing an opportunity for our shipmates and their families to gather and share the good memories as well as the bad, an opportunity to renew old friendships as well as make new ones. Through these pages we of the US Navy Patrol Gunboat Reunion Association hope to promote our reunion for the "Gunboat Riders" -- those sailors that served onboard the ASHEVILLE Class Patrol Gunboats (PG) of the United States Navy during the 1960's and 1970's. The ships may be gone, but the memories are still with us. At the same time, we hope that this web site provides others with an opportunity to learn something about the life of these sailors, these "Gunboat Riders". Feel free to visit the Gunboat Association forum and ask any questions.

Gunboat sailors came from all walks of life and had many different skills. Some wore khaki and some were white-hats, but all had one thing in common, they rode these boats into places that, sometimes, they really didn't want to go. Many were involved in combat in the coastal waters and rivers of Vietnam. Many suffered the pain of physical and mental wounds. Many were fortunate enough to avoid that conflict and arrived on-board after the horrors of Vietnam had ended.

Atlantic Gunboat Riders, worn and tired as they weathered winter storms and summer hurricanes, knew that their counterparts in the Pacific were being mercilessly pounded by typhoons and monsoons. Still others roamed the Mediterranean Sea to "Show-the-Flag" and provide a capability that, until the gunboat's development, had been lacking in the US Navy. Many Gunboat Riders experienced the "hospitality" of Guantanimo Bay, Cuba on an all-too-frequent basis to play the role of the opposing forces during multi ship exercises. Most times, these small ships with their small crews were overshadowed by the ships of the "Real Navy". However, they served with distinction and pride. By playing the role of the adversary, these boats provided invaluable training for ships of the US and allied navies -- a role that was often overlooked.

Wherever they were, Vietnam, Guam, Little Creek, Naples, San Diego, even Chicago, every Gunboat Rider can say that they had served with pride on those rough-riding aluminum and fiberglass PG's and survived.

While you are here, be sure to check the Missing Crewmembers pages. These pages contain a list of personnel identified as being stationed either on a Patrol Gunboat or with one of the shore staffs. If you have any information on any of these personnel, please e-mail me and let me know. Providing me with first names and middle initials will make the job of locating them much easier. If you know what city or state someone was initially from, it will also help a great deal.