{"id":65,"date":"2008-09-20T19:14:41","date_gmt":"2008-09-20T19:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbr721.com\/?page_id=65"},"modified":"2020-06-29T18:08:35","modified_gmt":"2020-06-29T22:08:35","slug":"reconstruction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pbr721.com\/reconstruction\/","title":{"rendered":"Reconstruction Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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All about my acquisition and reconstruction of my boat, 31 RP 721, a 1972 production Mk II River Patrol Boat, hull number 721...<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u2022 Also see “A Short History of the PBR<\/a>“<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Coming from a family that has long enjoyed boats and boating on the Long Island Sound, I was very familiar with boats from owning and working on them, both from a design and mechanical standpoint. It wasn’t until I signed up for the Naval Reserve – 3 days before my seventeenth birthday – that I was able to continue my fascination with boats – in the Navy.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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(Click To View) Dennis A. Ambruso (center of pic) as a Naval League Sea Cadet in 1960, after being inspected by then President Eisenhower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nBut let me back up a bit… I have to say from about the age of 12 to 17, I was a member of a great organization known as the Naval League Sea Cadets in Stamford, Connecticut. It’s the place I became acutely aware of naval history and the types of boats currently in service with the US Navy. At that time of my life, PT Boats were my true love, my only love, fast – sleek – and expendable – but their day had passed and they were now gone. But a new boat was out to replace it; the Patrol Torpedo Fast (PTF), and that is what I wanted. It was #1 on my dream chit as the boat I wanted to serve on as I went to active duty in June of 1965.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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(Click To View) President Dwight D. Eisenhower arriving to board the Presidential Yacht, but took the time to give an inspection to the Navy League Sea Cadets at Quonset Point, Rhode Island.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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But in the usual way of the military, the Navy had different plans for me.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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(Click To View) US Navy Vietnam War Veteran Dennis Ambruso<\/figcaption><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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My dream was crushed when I was assigned to the U.S.S. Colonial LSD – 18 stationed in San Diego. While serving on the Colonial, I could see San Diego’s harbor filled with small boats of every shape and description: LCVP’s, Mike boats, River Monitors, and a new little boat, the PBR. Later on in my tour of duty, while cruising around visiting various ports in South Vietnam, I got to see more of the little boats, the Mark I’s, and then the newer versions, the Mark II’s. It was the second time I fell in love! And I was determined that some day I was going to bring my love home, and make my dream come true.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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But now, serving on the Colonial, I was just a deliveryman, delivering a half dozen PTF’s from Guam to Vietnam. Although I wasn’t serving on one of my dream boats, I was able to be with her, up close and personal. It’s all burnt into my memory.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Dennis A. Ambruso - Home and U.S. Navy Life<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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US Navy Vietnam War Veteran Dennis A. Ambruso<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Click picture below to view slideshow.
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