“I took the little girl to the fantail and sat down holding her. Guys were bringing me flak jackets and wool blankets...that boat was going so fast, I didn’t know it at the time but they were pumping fuel over the side and throwing ammunition over the side so we could get there faster to save this little girl...”
Lieutenant David Wallace, USNR
The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce that the September 2016 story of the month has been selected to honor the service of Lieutenant David Wallace. Lieutenant Wallace was interviewed by a United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service film crew at the Swift Boat Sailors Association Reunion in Washington D.C. Lieutenant Wallace began his interview by sharing his entry into Officer Candidate School and first learning about Swift Boats, “ One of my instructors at OCS...would tell us stories about Swift Boats...and I would think, how would you get on these things, I always wanted it.” Upon being commissioned, Wallace was sent to the USS Skagit AKA 105 where he learned valuable lessons on leadership from a Chief Warrant Officer who took Wallace under his wing. He had a strong desire to captain a Swift Boat and requested a transfer to join small boats.
His request was granted and was sent to Swift Boat training in Coronado. Wallace was then assigned to Coastal Division 13 where he was trained in country to learn about the situation on the ground before taking command of a boat. The realities of war quickly sunk in and Wallace was assigned a crew. He remarked, "we would patrol typically four days, and come back in for three, and then go back out for four." He shared vivid details about patrols and operations while on PCF 32 and PCF 65. One story focused on the rescue of a little girl who was from a village that was brutally attacked by the Viet Cong. Wallace and his crew were handed a wounded child who had nearly been killed, he recalled, “I took the little girl to the fantail and sat down holding her. Guys were bringing me flak jackets and wool blankets...that boat was going so fast; I didn’t know it at the time but they were pumping fuel over the side and 
throwing ammunition over the side so we could get there faster to save this little girl...” Wallace was able to bring the little girl to a doctor and to this day does not know what happened after her rescue.
The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program honors Lieutenant David Wallace, 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 at http://navylog.navymemorial.org/stories-of-service
To view this interview please visit the Vietnam Era Swift Boat Reunion Collection on the stories of service page.