[Bob]

Just out of curiosity, how can they remember if their were bullet holes in the boats? 1. would bullets have penetrated anyway and 2. why would somebody remember that (unless their was a record of such).

If they had been in the sort of firefight that kerry described, there would have been a great many bullet holes in all of the boats. The Swift boats may have been tough but they weren't very heavily armored.

Any bullet holes would have appeared on a damage report filed after the action. If the brown-water Navy operates anything like the tin-can Navy does, there should have been a separate damage report submitted for each boat involved in the incident. (They may have been combined and included as part of the after-action report.) In all likelihood, there would have been additional repair paperwork written up as well.

The U.S. Navy may float on water but it thrives on paperwork. :=)

[OneTimeLurker]

That's what I figured. So do these reports not exist? Surely since a few of the boats hit mines, they would have been damaged. Where are those reports? That should help dispel the firefight then.

You sure they boats wouldn't deflect AK-47 rounds btw.? Doesn't makes sense to send a boat that will surely take fire into an area where it can be sunk with small arms fire.