My Journey to Bob Dole

Earl Boutell joined the US Navy after three semesters of college. After putting the USS Seattle (AOE-3) into commission, he received new orders for embassy/advisor duty. After attending seventeen weeks of advisor training, he wrote to Senator Bob Dole requesting special leave time to be with his wife for the birth of their first child, just prior to being deployed to Vietnam as an advisor to the South Vietnamese river assault boats. The navy considered the advisor job as “high risk of capture.” He left for his highly hazardous Vietnam duty as his daughter turned six days old. Living on the Vietnamese economy, coming under enemy attacks, and having contact with other American sailors only via radio were a few of the hardships that advisors endured while training the Vietnamese how to operate and maintain the river assault boats in wartime conditions. The goal became to thank Senator Dole in person for arranging the leave for the birth of his daughter after leaving Vietnam injured.