“We had anchored off of Vung Tau in Vietnam and a Swift Boat came along side...I started talking to the Lieutenant J.G. and it seemed intriguing”
Lieutenant James Will, USN
“I started at OCS in Newport Rhode Island in July of 1965 and graduated from OCS in November of 1965 and went to San Francisco. My first duty station was Damage Control School...From there I went to Long Beach and was assigned to the USS McKean DD 784,” Lieutenant James Will shared to a 
Navy Memorial Film Crew at the Seabee Sailors Association Reunion in McLean Virginia in 2015. While on the McKean, Will recalled, "we made two WestPac Cruises...most of that was gun fire support off of the coast of Vietnam and plane guarding off of Point Yankee." Will explained in detail his service on the USS McKean and also noted an experience that would change his fleet service forever. Will remembered, “We had anchored off of Vung Tau in Vietnam and a Swift Boat came along side...I started talking to the Lieutenant J.G. and it seemed intriguing.”
Will remembered, “I had always said that from the time I was a young kid I wanted to be in charge of my own boat and I knew I could never be a captain of my own ship but I could be an Officer in Charge of a swift boat.” His interest would lead to his extending his service and eventually going to Vietnam on a Swift Boat.
His next assignment would be to meet his new crew and train on Swift Boats. Will shared, “I actually got to Swift boat School in Coronado California...I was one of the lucky ones because I had a 
crew of five guys who went through training with me in Coronado the same five guys who completed our tour in Vietnam and we all came back together.” Will’s crew would serve on the Swift Boats PCF 28, PCF 102, and others. While in Vietnam Will would see a transformation in warfare styles and the use of Swift Boats.
Will recollected the moment the operations of the Swift Boats began to change, “Admiral Hoffman, who at the time 
had taken over the Swift Boats up in Cameron Bay, recognized that there was some reason to go into the rivers. When he came in he changed the rules because up until that point you weren’t allowed in the rivers...he said I’m giving on sight permission for the Officers in Charge to make the decisions to go in... and that’s when Sealord started.”
The United States Navy Memorial Lieutenant James Will, USN, featured within this series titled, Tales from the Navy Log, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about this story and to explore the Navy Memorial Tales from the Navy Log archive, visit the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site.