Harold N. Boyer
Folsom, Pa.

Jon Guttman’s article on the MK 15 Phalanx says, “The British destroyer Gloucester downed a Silkworm with a Sea Dart, marking the first successful missile interception by another guided missile at sea.” That was Feb. 25, 1991.

Go back to April 19, 1972, aboard the guided-missile frigate USS Sterett (DLG-31), off the island of Dong Hoi, North Vietnam. Late afternoon three MiG-17s attack a cruiser, the destroyer Higbee, another destroyer and Sterett. One of the MiGs bombs Higbee, then Sterett shoots down the MiG with her forward Terrier missile launcher. Burning, Higbee flees, with Sterett following for protection. The warships are followed by North Vietnamese patrol boats, some known to be Komar missile boats. Sterett engages the closest boats with her 5-inch 54-caliber gun mount; two disappear from radar. Sterett tracks a third patrol boat, which reportedly fires a surface-to-surface missile. Sterett fires a salvo of Terrier missiles; incoming missile destroyed.

Thought you might like to hear this story. North Vietnamese Komar missile boats usually had Russian advisers aboard, so probably this engagement is not going to show up. Sterett did receive the Navy Unit Citation for this action.

Garrett Wyatt
Bend, Oregon

The Stuart Line
[Re. “Culloden, Scotland,” Hallowed Ground, Apr/May, by David T. Zabecki:] James II Stuart was the younger brother of Charles II, not the son as Zabecki wrote. James was the one who captured New Netherland, naming two cities on the North (Hudson) River—New York, after his English title, and Albany, after his Scottish title.

But James II was not the last Stuart on the throne. His older daughter Mary II ruled jointly with Willem of Orange (William and Mary.) The last Stuart was Anne, younger daughter of James II.

W. Aardsma
Kansas City, Mo.

Army, Not Marines
In the article “Belleau Wood, France” [Hallowed Ground, Feb/Mar], Colonel Joseph H. Alexander states, “Belleau Wood lay in the path of the 4th Marine Brigade, which did much of the fighting, supported by soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division, 3rd Marine Brigade.…”

The 2nd Division, 3rd Brigade consisted of the 9th and 23rd infantry regiments and was an Army, not a Marine, brigade. The 4th Brigade (5th and 6th Marine regiments) was the only Marine brigade to see combat in World War I. The other Marine brigade in France, the 5th (11th and 13th Marine regiments) was used as military police and provost guards due to the refusal of General John J. Pershing to allow a Marine division in the American Expeditionary Force.

Walter G. Hilsabeck
Springfield, Va.

Correction
In “The ‘Go for Broke’ 442nd” (Valor, Feb/Mar, by David T. Zabecki), we placed Camp Darby, Livorno, on the Adriatic coast of Italy. It is situated along the Etruscan coast on the Ligurian Sea.

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