RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Bob Gnau lives in Glen Allen now. It’s a world away from Vietnam, but he still holds the days he spent aboard a Naval swift boat during the war so close.
“People are forgetting about the war and all the suffering and the loss of these lives,” Gnau explains.
It is why he made a vow to keep their stories alive. From his home in Central Virginia, Gnau worked with Sue Edwards, a swift boat veteran’s daughter living in Philadelphia, on a special project. It became this, the Swift Boat Sailors Memorial. It is an online memorial with photos and videos, many that have never been publicly seen before.
Swift boat sailors initially patrolled 1,200 miles of Vietnam coastline during the war, but then efforts took an especially deadly turn when they moved inland to the rivers.
“It’s part of the war a lot of people don’t know about,” Gnau says. “You hear about the Army and the Marines, but you don’t hear too much about the Navy. And it’s really to point out, to remember the fifty sailors that died.”
With this memorial, Gnau aims to put stories to the names and let Richmond know how far he has personally come. It is something he does not take for granted.
“It tells you how lucky you are to survive, and we don’t want to forget the people who gave everything.”
This online memorial is part of a special exhibit at the Virginia War Memorial through March.
