I remember reading that the swift boats had twin .50s and a .60 machine gun. That's a heck of a lot of fire power when aimed at a human body on shore. It had to be very effective leaving little reason for our hero to go ashore which not only violated regulations but rendered the entire crew vulnerable. He did so because he had to build on his "war hero" reputation that he knew he could spin into a political career.
The man's a slug.